


Always and Once More

by Elykrai



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abusive Dursley Family (Harry Potter), Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Blood Adoption (Harry Potter), Canon Divergence - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Evil Albus Dumbledore, Gender Questioning Character, Good Death Eaters, Good Draco Malfoy, Good Lucius Malfoy, Good Severus Snape, Harry Potter Has a Sibling, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Mentions of Corrective Rape, Not Canon Compliant, OC learns to feel, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape Recovery, Recovery, Redemption, Sexuality Crisis, Suicide Attempt, emotional masking, first couple of chapters are fast paced, gender discovery, slows down after them, starts in Chamber of Secrets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:41:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 44,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28041066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elykrai/pseuds/Elykrai
Summary: Jasmine Potter has known violence for her entire short life. The Durselys have always let her know just what a waste of space she was. Harry, her twin, was not much better. He learned early on that he could blame her for his stuff and she would be punished. When she learned she was a witch, she thought things would change. She thought she could get out. She was wrong.She had begged and pleaded, but the Headmaster sent her back to the Dursleys, saying she was over-exaggerating. Harry got a room. She did not.She vowed that they would not get away with anything they have ever done to her. No matter what, she would prove that she belonged. Harry practically disowned her when she was sorted into Slytherin, and no Slytherin would accept her: a half-blood. But she was strong, she knew she was.And she knew this year was going to be the start of being different from the rest. She would change everything.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Original Character(s), Lucius Malfoy & Original Character(s), Severus Snape & Original Character(s)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ~~Or, watch as Jasmine escapes abuse, learns to trust, learns more advanced magic, unlock long-hidden secrets, and discovers he's not a girl and that he can finally be himself and not have to worry about anyone else. And gains a family he deserves in the process~~

She could see the platform ahead, the brick wall that would bring the respite she was craving. Last year had spoiled her. An entire school year away from her vile relatives, not having to worry about what they would do next. It untrained her to deal with the pain.

Even as she now walked with a barely concealed limp through the train station, she could feel the various injuries all over her person. Harry had disappeared in the night nearly a whole month before school was scheduled to start and Vernon had taken out his anger on her frail body.

He was rather determined she would not be returning to Hogwarts this year, but with a perfectly timed scheme, Jasmine had bolted out of the house with her trunk the day before she was due at the station and made it to the Leaky Cauldron via the Knight Bus. She had snagged enough money off of Harry over the summer to be able to buy a room for the night and to go to Diagon Alley for all needed materials.

And now, stepping through the wall, Jasmine felt relief flood through her system. This was where she belonged, not with the damned Dursleys. She found an empty compartment, and promptly collapsed, hissing at the pain that radiated across her ribs.

She did not care, though. She could deal with the pain; she was back in the world she belonged in. And perhaps this year, she could find a way to stay far away from Muggle London.

The first few days were nothing exciting, Jasmine got the usual looks of absolute disdain from her pureblooded roommates, and she just wanted to keep her head down.

Gilderoy Lockhart, however, had other ideas.

Jasmine hated him the moment she stepped foot in the defense class. He was not at all qualified to be teaching, it was obvious. And the fact that all the girls were fawning over him was grating on her nerves.

And Gilderoy Lockhart had the _audacity_ to bring her to the front of the class, arm wrapped around her shoulders in a way that made her want to hex him right then, to announce her as a fellow celebrity.

She had put on her best scornful face and stayed silent even as he prodded her to talk. When she got back to her desk, her head was swarming with different curses that she could attempt on him.

When the bell rang, she couldn’t get out fast enough. She was in such a hurry that she didn’t slow down. Not until she walked into her next class and immediately slammed into something.

“Potter.” She flinched, bracing for the inevitable blow that was going to follow that tone. When it didn’t come, she looked up hesitantly, and instantly realizing her mistake, coming out of her memories as she stared at the face of her Head of House.

He didn’t say anything, just moving to the front of the class. She let out a breath a moved to hear seat, Draco joining her soon after. They had an understanding: one that came only after she beat him in a duel the previous March. He would stop insulting her, and she would stop picking on him. The mutual respect was earned after both upheld their end.

Honestly, he wasn’t a bad guy, he just put on the rough façade to get along in Slytherin, which she found perfectly understandable. She would do the same if it would do any good. But she could not change the blood that ran through her veins.

He gave her a smirk as he sat, looking between her and their professor. “Already in trouble, Potter?” He whispered causing her to smirk, gray eyes sparkling.

“You wish, Malfoy.” They both chuckled, before silencing as soon as Professor Snape turned around, cape billowing around him. They shared a knowing look before class started. All through class, Jasmine tried and failed to ignore the pounding in her chest. Not only was it aggravating her already sore chest, but the feeling of messing up so badly so early on was dreadful.

She had slipped into her mind and mistaken a moment that she was still on Privet Dr. which was not good.

After class, she packed hurriedly, and almost made it out the door before – “Ms. Potter. Stay a moment.” She huffed and shot Malfoy a scowl when he chuckled before running off. She did not turn, clutching her things tightly in her hands.

“Is there something you need, professor?”

“You thought I was to hit you. Why?” She flinched again, albeit much less noticeably than before class, but still did it. He moved to stand in front of her, looking down at her with a look of complete disinterest on his face. She shrugged her shoulders.

“I do not see how this conversation pertains to potions, sir.”

“Ms. Potter, I am your Head of House, if something is the matter, you need tell me.” She raised her chin defiantly. “I know that look. I sported it for my first five years of Hogwarts.” At this, her mask faltered. “Roll up your sleeves, if you will.”

“Why? It won’t change anything.” He furrowed his brows.

“Ms. Potter—”

“No. It’s true. I’ve tried telling people before. You won’t do anything. No one ever does. Now, if you excuse me, I must get to class.”

“Ms. Potter. I will believe you.” She had taken three steps. But that was enough for her. She turned, setting her steely eyes on his as she rolled up her sleeves, revealing dark purple handprints across her forearms. Immediately, his eyes widened, snapping to hers. “who did this?”

“My guardians, who else?” she rolled her eyes.

“Come.”

“Where?”

“the hospital wing.”

“I hardly think that is necessary, professor. It is but a few bruises.”

“Yes, a few partially healed bruises being the only proof needed to get you removed from your guardians.” With that, she hurriedly followed behind his quick-paced steps, letting her sleeves fall back down.

“You mean that? Truly?” He nodded once, not bothering to look at her again. She was fine with it, this was actually rather nice. The last time she had said something to someone, besides Dumbledore, they had looked at her with pity and she did not want that. She just wanted to change it. To get out. Once and for all.

They walked in silence before arriving, and he waved his wand, Jasmine not quite following whatever it was that he did.

Madame Pomfrey rounded the counter and greeted the professor with a happy exclamation of “Severus!” and a hug, much to his disdain. Jasmine hid her giggle behind her hand, giving a little cough.

“Oh, Ms. Potter. Don’t tell me you’ve been dueling again.”

“I wish.” Professor Snape quietly said something to her which caused her to look down at Jasmine with a sad smile.

“Aw, you poor thing. Come, lay on this bed.” She did so and looked apprehensively at the woman. “Now, I am just going to run a diagnostic spell, and it will tell me all of your injuries. Completely non-invasive. All you have to do is lay there.” Jasmine nodded, wringing her hands together, and tried to stay still, but she kept ending up either tapping her foot or fingers.

When the spell was over, Pomfrey was holding a parchment, face pale.

“State your guardians’ names.”

“My aunt and uncle: the Dursleys.”

“With this, you will never have to return to them.” Against her better judgement, hope filled her chest.

“Promise?” Professor Snape nodded.

“I promise.”


	2. Chapter 2

Jasmine adjusted well back into the Hogwarts routine, her encounter in the hospital wing feeling quite like a dream, especially considering the number of times she woke in a cold sweat, remembering the feel of Vernon’s fists.

Despite finding out the year before that her parents died on Halloween, it continued to be one of her favorite holidays. Of course, she had never celebrated, but it had a good energy to it.

So of course, when it came around, the Slytherin common room was full in the morning. Students chatted idly to each other, and she made a way to her usual spot by the giant window that peered into the Black Lake. She greeted the mercreatures in BSL, something she picked up quite quickly in her first year.

All of Slytherin knew it, mostly to communicate with the creatures of the lake, but it was a bonus if any of them needed to communicate with someone who could not hear them. The morning was a lazy one, and she almost wondered what it would be like for another troll to break in this year.

Draco and Blaise sat near her, shooing her companion off, causing to give them a half-heated glare.

“That brother of yours is a real pain, you know that, Potter?”

“I am more aware of his faults than you, Malfoy,” she drawled, swiping her hair back over her shoulder. “I know he’s an arse.” She had plenty of scars because of him, and for that, she hated him.

“family troubles?” Blaise shoved Draco and Jasmine crack a small smile, if for nothing else, than to get them to relax.

“I’m going to head to breakfast early, catch you later.”

In the halls, she stopped short, hearing something behind her, but knowing for a fact that there was nothing there. She turned, heading in the direction of it, already bracing herself to stand up for herself from whoever was picking on her, but as she got closer, she just noticed that she was alone.

It was a strange whispering sound, sounding too hoarse to be recognizable, but it was certainly _something._

The next day, however, the Slytherin common room was buzzing with activity long after curfew, Jasmine curled up close to Draco and his gang of followers, listening to talk of the Chamber of Secrets. It was the talk of the school, even those that didn’t know what it was, hence Jasmine sitting on the floor trying to take in what everyone was saying around her.

Apparently, Salazar Slytherin had a hidden chamber in the school with a creature of some sort, and only his heir could access it. Which both excited and terrified Jasmine.

Because one, that was amazing. But she was terrified because she wasn’t a pureblood. And if this was truly the work of Slytherin’s heir in his name, she was going to have to learn a bunch of defensive and offensive spells very quickly.

Lockhart hadn’t learned to leave her alone, and she was that close to just punching him in his nose. He was constantly around her in his class, touch here or there which had her skin crawling. But he wouldn’t stop.

Finally, one day, she had _loudly_ told him that if he ever touched her again, he would be reported to the Ministry for assaulting a student. The Slytherins that were in the room nodded to her and backed her up. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one he was too _friendly_ with.

But after that, her grades dropped further then they already were. The quizzes were all about him anyway, and this just straight up proved that he was just after her.

So, when they had a dueling club, she was excited, hoping to be able to uh—accidentally—let a spell hit him. But then Draco conjured a snake, and it kept trying to attack a student.

“Leave him alone. He didn’t do anything,” Harry said to it, but the snake kept going.

“He brought me here.”

“No, he didn’t. Draco did. That’s not Draco. Leave him alone, you’re scaring him.”

“Hey! Back off,” Jasmine demanded and the snake turned to look at her. She ignored the way the students around her backed up. “Now.” The snake turned and started slithering away from the boy when Professor Snape jumped up onto the table and got rid of the snake.

The boy looked at Harry with wide eyes, while Draco grabbed her arm and pulled. She shrieked and breathed in deeply to calm herself, reminding her that she was not with Vernon and Draco never did anything to hurt her.

“You? You’re the Heir?”

“What? No.” He raised his brows and looked back the way they came.

“Really? Then what the bloody hell was that?”

“What? Me telling the snake _not_ to bite a student?”

“Is that what you said?”

“Yeah?” Draco sighed, rubbing his hands over his face.

“You have no idea that you just spoke Parseltongue do you?” He asked. Jasmine raised her brows.

“What? I don’t know what that is, but I can guarantee you, I can only speak English.” He sighed and then explained that Parseltongue was an innate ability to talk to snakes that very few wizards actually could do. Jasmine nodded, absorbing the information, even if her head was swarming.

“So…I’m a freak?” Vernon’s words were echoing through her skull, and she screwed her eyes shut, trying to force them out.

“What? Of course not. This is extraordinary! Come on!” With that, he grabbed her hand and tugged her with him until they were running through the halls and tumbled into their common room laughing.

Once in his room, he gave her a book. “My father gave me this. It is a book of rare magical abilities: Parseltongue is in there. You should read it. You’d certainly enjoy it more than me.” She smiled at him and nodded.

She read it quickly, and then she snuck out after curfew one night, it had to be one in the morning, to go to the library. She went into the restricted section and found a book that seemed to be calling to her. When she grabbed it, she heard the whispers again and turned around. Following it, it led her to the girls' bathroom on the second floor, the ghost glaring at her.

“What do you want? Come to make fun of me too?” She sniffled.

“Well maybe if you didn’t make it so easy, they wouldn’t come so often.” The ghost spluttered and disappeared into a toilet, parting with a loud wail. Jasmine shook her head, holding her stolen book close to her chest. She waited, listening for more of the whispers. When she did, she realized it was Parseltongue.

“Where are you? Is there a door to open?” One of the sinks sunk away, leaving a large pipe exposed. She looked at it and sighed. “Okay, sure. Magic tunnels activated by snake language. Why not?” She took a deep breath and slid down. The tunnel was dark and slimy and nothing like the top had looked like, and when she hit the ground after sliding out, she looked around, a scowl in place.

“Are you an heir?” The hissing was louder than before, and she turned, looking for where it was coming from. She saw nothing.

“I’m not sure. I speak your language, though. Where are you?”

“You must look down.” She did so, and then she heard shifting on the stone, at the same time she felt a presence behind her. She didn’t look up, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see a giant snake slithering by her. She looked up, eyes seeing giant yellow eyes-

Jasmine gasped, sitting up in bed, her heart hammering in her chest. She shook her head, stumbling out of the room and down the stairs to sit in a seat by the window to the lake, pressing her forehead against the cool glass.

She’d been having different versions of the same dream for days. All involving the giant serpent. Each time she woke up, she had a weird emotion she couldn’t place. But that wasn’t surprising: she couldn’t place most emotions she felt and has spent most of her life numb to them.

She watched the creatures move around in the lake and briefly let herself wonder what it would feel like to be that free, to be whatever she wanted to. To maybe feel free. To think about herself and recognize herself and not just see a stranger.

Sighing, she reached into her pocket and grabbed her wand, twirling it in her hand absentmindedly.

What would it _feel_ like to be able to look into the mirror and not think the person looking back was a stranger? To know what it was to do things just because? To feel anything?


	3. Chapter 3

The next dueling club, she volunteered herself against Lockhart. He smiled darkly at her and raised his wand.

She quickly shifted her stance, throwing her arm forward with force as she thought ‘ _Expelliarmus!’_

Lockhart was blasted off the table and into the wall. Jasmine smirked, looking back at her Head of House who was looking on. He stepped onto the table, walking beside her.

“well, Professor Lockhart, I do believe you just demonstrated precisely what not to do during a duel. Twenty points to Slytherin for your demonstration, Potter.” She nodded, jumping off the table to stand next to Draco. He gave her a breathless laugh, bumping her shoulder with his.

“That was amazing!” they all looked to where Lockhart was groaning in a pile against the wall. She snickered as the boys around her all laughed freely.

“A nonverbal spell is essential in battle, and is taught in your sixth year,” Snape drawled, eyes sweeping across the mass of students around the table. “Another ten points for your success in that field, Potter.” The Slytherins around her all cheered, lightly patting her on the back as she smirked.

After that, she seemed to have gained more respect in her house, several people talking to her now. She didn’t mind it, it was how the world worked. Though, the older years didn’t seem to have gotten the memo, seeing as she was pushed to the ground in the common room by the sixth years who have taken to constantly bother her since she started at Hogwarts. The group laughed as her homework spilled around her. She snapped her head back to glare at them, standing up.

“What? The little mudblood going to fight back?” The boys cackled again, feeding off each other’s glee. She drew her wand.

“Duel me.” They looked at her with amusement then looked at each other.

“Alright, but I don’t want to hear you crying when you lose.” The main one stepped forward, mockingly bowing as Jasmine did the same. Someone to the side counted down, and then he was immediately throwing a _Bombarda!_

_“Protego!”_ His curse rebounded, hitting the wall, causing it to crash down, and Jasmine quickly flicked her wand, ‘ _Stupefy!’_

He flew backwards, hitting the ground, unconscious. She quickly deflected curses from the other two when they retaliated, quickly and wordlessly disarming them, sending them both flying across the room.

The room was deadly quiet for a second before the room erupted into cheers. Jasmine smirked, looking at the three unconscious boys, reveling in the cheers coming from around her.

All that stopped though, the moment the door to the common room flew open. Everyone went silent, staring at Professor Snape as he surveyed the room.

“Potter,” he spat, looking at the crumbled bricks. “ _Explain.”_

_“_ It was just a friendly duel, professor.”

“yeah!”

“Yeah, just a duel!” Draco’s shout mixed in with the others from people around the room. Snape sighed, eyes closing as he waved his wand, the bricks repairing.

“Very well. See to it that future… _duels_ are more controlled. Yes?” everyone voiced their agreement and after he looked over the unconscious bullies, proceeded to leave. Draco caught her arm, smiling brightly at her.

“That was incredible! You just took down three sixth years!” She smirked and nodded, feeling some tension roll off her as other purebloods came over to her.

“Yeah, I did.”

That night changed the way the rest of her house looked at her. She still got the occasional look or petty insult, but she earned some respect among them. And she was damn proud about it.

She even got her first ever Christmas present, from an anonymous person as she sat in her empty room, it was wrapped in silver paper at the foot of her bed. It was a warn dueling book, with notes in the margins, and she _loved it._

She read the entirety of it several times over the remainder of break, learning everything she possibly could, studying the notes and adding her own. She hid it well when her roommates came back though, they were still horrid people, even if they did give her a wider arc.

Life was simple after that though. She kept to herself and hanging with Draco, Theo, and Blaise, along with a couple of Hufflepuff friends she had made, Justin and Mariah. Twin purebloods. The attacks on students seemed to have stopped, though Jasmine still had many nightmares of the snake.

When Hermione was petrified, Harry cornered her after potions class.

“What do you want?” She hissed at him.

“I want you to be my sister and care that my best friend has been petrified.” She gave a dark chuckle, rolling her eyes.

“You have no right to ask me to be your sister when you’ve never been my brother. You’ve never done a thing for me. Why would I pretend to care about your friend?” She asked, pinning him with a glare. She may have to pretend back at the Dursleys, but she did not have to pretend here. He would make her pay for it in the summer, she knew, but she would not take it from him here.

“You have no right to ask anything of me, Harry. And you best think twice about talking to me again.” She shouldered past him.

“our parents would hate you!” He shouted behind her.

“They’re dead, Harry. I don’t care what they would think.” She didn’t turn nor slow down, just kept walking when she heard a crash behind her.

“Mr. Potter,” Snape drawled, causing Jasmine to turn around, seeing the Professor clutching Harry’s wand arm in his hand, the wand aimed at her. “You should not think to cast at someone’s back. Seventy points from Gryffindor, come along. We are going to the headmaster.” He plucked the wand from him and turned him towards the right direction. Jasmine nodded to herself, turning and carrying on to lunch.

She sat next to Theo, and slumped down. “what happened to you?”

“Oh, just Harry Potter tried to spell me behind my back and Professor Snape took seventy points from him.” She smirked at him, eyes glinting. He shook his head, a sneer on his face.

“Only true cowards cast at someone’s back.”

“I’m aware.”

Dumbledore was gone, Hagrid had been arrested, much to the amusement of her house. There was not a chance that he was the Heir of Slytherin. Draco was rather pleased that Dumbledore was gone, and Jasmine was right there with him. The blasted headmaster sent her back to the Dursleys and told her to stop ‘making things up’. Really, she rather hoped that Professor Snape was wrong that he would be back soon.

Then again, she had never seen him be wrong about anything so her hopes weren’t up very high.

Without Granger, she had the best marks in potions, she already had some of the highest marks, but the Gryffindor was a stickler.

She found a potions book in the library and approached Snape during office hours one Saturday, exams coming up. He looked up from his markings and motioned for her to go ahead.

“Sir, do you offer extra credit?” He stopped what he was doing, quill dropping a dot of ink on the paper in front of him. He looked up, a bored expression on his face.

“Potter, you have an Outstanding in my class.”

“I am aware sir, but I would like to brew an extra if you’d allow it.” She looked down, knowing he was as likely to say yes as she was to sprout wings and fly.

“You have an interest in potions?” he drawled, and she nodded. “Very well. You can brew a third-year potion next Saturday. Six o’clock. Do not be late.” She looked up to see he was back to marking. “if there was nothing else…” She nodded, turning on her heel to leave the room.

She looked at the third-year potions that night, determining that it shouldn’t be so hard. Brewing in an empty classroom besides the professor gave off a very different feel than normal, and for the first time, she was nervous brewing. But she did fine.

However, the next week, she woke up in a cold sweat, walking through the halls. She blinked, looking around, and noticed her wand was in her hand.

“Potter!” She turned, seeing her Head of House rapidly approaching her, robes billowing about him. “what are you doing wandering the halls?” She shook her head, blinking rapidly. “Potter.”

“I don’t know, sir. I- I don’t know. I just woke up. I- I just woke up.” He sighed, hand reaching out she moved forward and he placed it on her shoulder, leading her towards the great hall.

“In any case, there is currently a feast. The threat is gone.” She walked in, quickly finding Draco and Theo. She spotted Dumbledore and scowled.

“What’s he doing here?”

“Apparently he’s been reinstated,” Draco hissed, glaring at his pumpkin juice. She scowled, stabbing a piece of food. She found house points and spluttered.

“How the bloody hell did Gryffindor get an extra _four hundred points?_ ”

“Potter and Weasley.” Was all Draco said before grumbling. Theo and her exchanged amused looks before tucking into their feasts.

“We’ll get the house cup next year,” she said, bumping him with her shoulder. He scowled miserably. A little after Hagrid showed back up, Dumbledore stood to announce Lockhart wasn’t coming back.

The school cheered, including teachers.

Students that, like Jasmine, had too much of his attention, cheered especially loud. Exams were cancelled, which got another round of cheers. DADA was cancelled for the rest of the year, which was great. No more learning about the life of Gilderoy Lockhart.

However, two days until the train left for London, her sixth-year bullies cornered Jasmine in the dungeons. She had left later than everyone else for dinner, trying to figure out how to sneak some of her stuff out of her trunk once back at the Dursleys.

Thus, she was alone, with the three of them.

“You’re all alone now, mudblood. We were unprepared last time. Not this one.”

She managed to knock out one of them early in their brawl. She alternated between throwing shields and spells and running through the halls and ducking behind corners.

She was panting from exertion, holding her wand tightly, racking her brain for spells. She took a deep breath and turned the corner. They spotted her first, sending twin _Bombardas_ at her. She sent her own back, the three spells colliding.

She threw up the strongest shield of her life, but even that wasn’t enough to stop her from being knocked unconscious.

When she woke up, she was in the hospital wing, and her head was pounding. She groaned, sitting up. She looked up squinting at the blurry figures that was approaching her.

“Attacking students at the end of the year, Ms. Potter. Truly you ought to know better.” She blinked and saw one of the figures—the one who spoke—was Dumbledore.

“I was attacked.”

“The three of them have already given their report. Said you waited to ambush them before dinner.”

“That’s ridiculous! They’re four years older than me. Why would I possibly do that?” She growled, glaring at him. She saw the similar expressions on the faces of Professor Snape and Madame Pomfrey, both glaring at the headmaster so hard, it was rather a shock that he didn’t combust.

“Regardless, you are awake now, and you have a train to get on. The Dursleys have been informed of your incident, and are awaiting yours and your brother’s return.” She felt the color drain from her face.

“I’m…going back there?”

“It is your home,” the headmaster said eyes twinkling. She shook her head, glaring at him.

“No, it’s not!”

“Ms. Potter, calm down.” She shook her head, her breathing picking up as her blood rushed in her ears. She looked at Professor Snape and Pomfrey.

“You promised me!” She scrambled off the bed, throwing a vase towards the headmaster who deflected it with a wave of his wand. Snape caught her by the arms.

“I am doing everything that I possibly can. If I can help it, you’ll be out of there before your birthday.” She huffed, glaring at him, pulling her arms from him and shoving him by his shoulders.

“You’re all the same! None of you are worth shit!” She turned, and stumbled out of the infirmary, Dumbledore’s call to head straight to the train following her. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself, and miserably failing.

She collapsed into a compartment, shoving her face into her knees taking deep breaths. She still had several hours in the wizarding world. It wasn’t much, but it was better than it disappearing immediately.

The door opened with the sounds of Draco and his friends before it disappeared. She felt a presence near her.

“Deep breath, Jasmine. Come on, do it with me,” Draco murmured quietly, taking a very loud exaggerated breath that she matched. “Okay, now hold.” She waited, counting the seconds—eight of them. “Now out.” He breathed out loudly and she matched him. They repeated this until the blood was no longer rushing in her ears and she looked up, keeping her eyes away from Draco, murmuring a quiet ‘ _thank you’._

“Come on, the seats are far more comfortable than the floor.” He stood, pulling her with him. He raised a brow, hands on her shoulders. “good now?” She nodded, looking to the floor. “hey, none of that,” he tilted her head up. “Panic attacks are nothing to be ashamed of.” She didn’t believe him but didn’t say anything. They spent the train ride together, just the two of them.

Jasmine was able to not think of what was awaiting her, of her knowing something was not right with herself, about none of it.

She just enjoyed the remaining time with magic and Draco. He said he would write to her, and she reminded him that last year his house elf stole all of the wizarding mail which had him blushing.

“I don’t know _why!_ Really, out of everything Dobby could have done, that makes the _least_ amount of sense. Regardless, though, I’ll be owling you.” She nodded, a small smile on her face. She looked forward to it, if he did.

Seeing Vernon again wiped away all excitement she had felt, instead replacing it with fiery rage and cold dread. They clashed viscously in her chest and she wished she could just reach over and strangle the fat oaf.

Arriving back at the dreaded house, he locked both hers and Harry’s things in a cabinet in the kitchen. He sent Harry to the grocery store leaving her alone with him. Petunia and Dursley were nowhere to be seen.

“You ungrateful bastard. Not only are you a freak, but you get into a _fight?_ Trying to scare me? Huh?” He backhanded her, sending her to the ground. She winched, eyes clenched shut at the pain that shot through her face. “Your freaky stick is in the closet, and that headmaster of yours promised me you could do no magic while you’re here.” A kick to her gut sent her rolling and glaring up defiantly at him.

“As if!” He roared, face turning purple with rage, and reach down, yanking her up by her hair and dragging her struggling form to the cupboard and shoving her in. She flinched when she heard it lock.

She breathed in deeply, trying to replicate what she and Draco did on the train, and tried, and tried. She screamed, pounding on the ceiling as full-blown panic hit her, aching deeply in her chest.

“I’ll kill you for this!”


	4. Chapter 4

The first four weeks went by as normal—well, normal for 4 Privet Drive. Harry had gotten in trouble for his own actions when one of the Weasleys called, but Harry still managed to shove several of his punishments onto her.

One day, when Jasmine could get free, she did so, running through the town and meeting up with a couple of her ‘friends.’ Really, they were just tolerable to her, but it was alright.

“Where’s Martha?” she asked, noticing that the usually present blonde was missing. Marcus and Jared exchanged looks and nodded.

“On the way. And his name is Max now.”

“His?” She asked, tilting her head.

“yeah, his.” At the familiar voice, she turned and saw Mar- _Max._ His long hair was cut short, and he was wearing much different clothes than usual. She furrowed her brow. “I’m trans, Jasmine.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“I was born with the body of a girl, but I am a boy. Transgender.” She nodded.

“Okay, then, Max. So, what’re we doing today?” She saw the relief flood into Max as his shoulders slumped. But for her, her thoughts were racing. That was a thing? How come she had never heard of it before?

After parting with them, she stopped by the library and asked for books on Transgender. She got several, along with sexuality, seeing as they were paired most of the time. She stayed until the library closed, reading.

She had to stop several times, panic feeling her chest as she recognized herself in those pages. But- how come? Could she be…trans?

But, if she was, shouldn’t she have known by now? She figured she was just reading too far into it because one of her friends was trans and he had trusted her with it. By the looks she got when she asked about it, and the condescending tone of one of the librarians, she figured it was looked down upon.

But why? It’s not these people’s fault. They didn’t ask to be, it was just who they were.

She scowled her whole walk home, stashing the books in a hidden spot in the house so the Dursleys wouldn’t find them.

Two days after them, she was at a park, on the books on her lap as she sat against a tree, reading.

“You know,” she snapped her head up, her teary eyes meeting Max’s. “You’re the only one to be researching it.”

“I figured it would be better than remaining ignorant,” She murmured, closing the book and ridding her eyes of the sheen of tears. This particular book was hitting way too close to how she felt, and she felt like a traitor for it. But she didn’t know why.

Max sat next to her, bumping her knee with his.

“That’s good. It took mum and dad a while to understand, and they still don’t. They _can’t._ But at least they accept me for who I am.” Jasmine would never know what that feels like. The fresh bruises on her side proof of that, but she was glad Max did. “Thank you, for trying to understand.” She nodded mutely, not knowing what to say.

“How long have you known?” She dared to ask, her heart hammering in her chest.

“A couple of years. I didn’t always know. Just…felt like something was missing. Like there was an important part of me that I couldn’t quite understand yet.” Jasmine felt like someone had just hit her with a _stupefy,_ all breath rushing out of her lungs as she turned to Max with wide eyes. He smiled at her, patting her knee. “You know, it’s alright if you see yourself in those books. Not everyone knows their whole life.”

“What if…” she trailed off shaking her head.

“No, go on.”

“what if I think I’m just…recognizing these pages because it’s the first time actually-”

“Actually reading the words you’ve already known,” he offered. She turned to him with wide eyes and he chuckled, shaking his head. “sorry, but…gender is not simple. It’s okay to question it, even if you _do_ end up realizing later on that you're cis. It is completely valid for you to question things about yourself. It’s healthy. Don’t let the world rule who you are. Try to figure it out for yourself first.

“Oh, and don’t worry about terms for yourself. Just…explore how you feel. How you _really_ feel. Terms can come later. Nothing about gender, or sexuality, or anything, really, is linear and in black and white. Everything a spectrum, and it means something different for everyone. Okay?” Jasmine swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.

“Sweet! Wanna come play volleyball with us?” She nodded and jogged with him to where the others were, plus kids she didn’t know, that probably went to their school.

She figured out she was very good at volleyball that day. She also worked on trying to find the courage to accept that maybe she wasn’t quite how everyone else perceived her as.

A couple of weeks later, she had exchanged her books several times, and each time, she read something that spoke to her, her eyes would fill with tears and she’d have to pause. Because she didn’t _feel like a girl._

And that was the hardest thing she has ever said, which triggered a panic attack when she was supposed to be taking a shower, so she turned on the shower and crawled in, sobbing on the floor of the tub.

When her time for the shower was up there was knocking on the door and she scrambled to dress in her too-large clothes and get out, keeping her head down to not show her tears.

She had kept her head down, taken the beatings, and had started experimenting with other pronouns in her head, but it was hard to accept it, and out of habit would revert back to she/her.

A day when Petunia and Dudley were out doing something as a family, and Harry was running an errand, Jasmine was dusting the shelves of the sitting room, standing on a chair to reach everything. Her dark brown hair was wet and laid in ringlets from her last timed and cold shower.

She had just finished and made to get down when a hand coiled around her hair and threw her to the ground. She coughed, looking up to see Vernon’s face twisted with disgust. In his hand was…of her books from the library. She felt herself pale, and skidded back, eyes wide as he stomped after her.

“Think you like girls, hmm? What? Being one _abomination_ wasn’t enough for you?”

“I’m not an abomination!” She shouted, tears springing forth.

“I’ll show you.” He dropped the books, reaching for his belt. She felt like her heart stopped, and then she was running, but she didn’t get far before being grabbed. She turned, elbowing him in the face. She ran to the door and threw it opened just as he caught her again.

“HELP!” She screamed, throat hurting from the intensity of it. He swung her to the stairs and closed the door, locking it. She hit her head on the stairs when he grabbed her feet. The last thing she saw was Vernon’s sneer.

When she woke up, she was aching, bleeding, and naked from the waist down, in the cupboard. She sobbed, crying into her hands, trying desperately to stay quiet, but he must have been waiting, because the door opened, and she was pulled out.

“Still like girls?” she quickly shook her head, whimpering. He hmphed, and threw trousers at her. “Clean up before Petunia returns.” She took them and scampered up the stairs to the bathroom. In the shower she washed the blood off her face, off her thighs, quietly sobbing, trying to find a way to stand without pain. She puked in the shower, falling to her knees, shaking her head.

That night, when Vernon laughed with his wife, Jasmine was clutching the legs of her chair with everything she could as not to reach across the table and slit his miserable throat.

It didn’t stop that day. He did it several times over the weak, making sure ‘that the message would sink in’.

A Friday, after she broke a picture frame, he shoved her in the cupboard. She sighed, silently crying. But this was better. This was way better than having to endure them. Taking Harry’s punishments, being a freak. She wouldn’t even have to worry about trying to figure out if she was a girl or not.

She took a deep breath, praying to whoever would listen, and then took the shard of glass from her pocket and cut deeply along both wrists, clenching her teeth. It felt better. Helped calm her thoughts almost immediately, like any time she caused little pains.

She leaned her head back and just…thought about a better place.

Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape were in muggle London trying to be able to have a discrete conversation without anyone of importance overhearing it. Which mostly just included Severus cursing at Lucius about his stupidity of giving the Dark Lord’s artifact to an _eleven-year-old girl._

Lucius had been taking this with stride, he knew it was quite stupid, but alas, he still did it. When he fell to the ground, magical alarms blaring in his head.

“What is it?”

“Magical child, imminent threat wards. I’m closest, come on.” He grabbed Severus’ arm and ducked into an alley apparating them as close as possible. He drew his wand from his cane and jogged towards the house, Severus following behind with a moment of hesitation.

Lucius banged on the door to the house where old magic calling for help was coming from. A big, balding man answered the door. Immediately, before Lucius could demand to see the child for welfare, the man grunted, turning red with rage. “I don’t need you freaks in my house! Out! You have no right to be here! Get out, you freaks!” Lucius felt the magic latch onto him, and he blasted the man away stepping into the house, Severus following behind him.

“The child?” Lucius activated a spell, the wand pointing him in the direction and he followed, watching with horror with each step he took closer to a cupboard. He saw blood dripping out of it and immediately blasted the many locks off of it, throwing the door open.

A bloody limp arm fell out, a shard of glass hitting the ground with it.

“Bloody hell.” He picked up the child and when Severus grabbed him, he apparated, the child’s magic aiding to his own to allow him to do so.

They arrived in St. Mungo’s and immediately healers were taking the child from his arms. When asked for the name, Lucius looked helpless when Severus replied, “Jasmine Potter.” The healer stumbled but quickly nodded and followed after the others.

Lucius turned his wide eyes to Severus. “Jasmine Potter. The Girl-Who-Lived?”

“Do you know of any other Jasmine Potters?” He quickly and quietly explained what he knew to Lucius and told him that Jasmine was the unnamed child he’d been trying to get him to help since before school was let out. Lucius took his wand and called for Aurors. Shortly after, three walked into St. Mungo’s and looked at him covered in blood in alarm.

“I just rescued a child whose magic gave an ancient call for protection. Go to the location, I used magic on a Muggle to save the child. Investigate. I have reason to believe the magical children there are being abused.” The Aurors nodded and left. Severus cleaned him with a quick cleansing spell.

“Severus…”

“I saw.” They silently sat, waiting for news about Jasmine’s wellbeing.

An hour later, a healer appeared to ask Lucius questions which he answered, and then the two of them were allowed into her room. She was on a bed, arms above the blanket, and bandaged. She had a bandage wrapped around her head as well. Probably had several other injuries they couldn’t see.

“She should be waking up shortly.”

Shortly was an understatement, because at that moment, her eyes snapped opened and she jumped up. When a healer grabbed her arm, she turned and punched her straight in the mouth.

“Ms. Potter,” Snape said, catching her attention. She was panting, looking around with wide eyes. “You are safe. You are at St. Mungo’s.” She sighed, looking around quickly before scooting back, bringing her knees to her chest and grabbing the blanket and pulling it up over her nose.

The healers escorted the two of them out, despite Jasmine’s outcry of protest.

Jasmine glared at the women around her. They were all trying to touch her and she _didn’t want to be touched!_

The glass in the room shattered and she squeaked, flopping under the covers.

“Ms. Potter.” She moved the blanket down past her eyes to gaze at Professor Snape. “You are safe here. You’re not with your relatives, and you never have to go back. This is Lucius Malfoy,” she perked up and looked at the man next to Snape. He was very clearly Draco’s father. The same hair, face shape, and color. His hair was much longer and worn pulled back elegantly at the nape of his neck. “He works with the ministry. He took you from the house. Do you remember any of that?” She slowly shook her head.

“How’s Draco?” She croaked. Lucius’ concerned face relaxed slightly.

“Draco is a ball of endless energy. Spends most of his time playing Quidditch and complaining about his summer homework. Did you get his letter?” She shook her head, slowly lowering the blanket. “A shame. He was eager to talk to you this summer.”

A quiet knock on the door had her on edge. A short plump woman with black hair opened the door. “I’m an investigator for the Ministry’s CPS. Do you know what that is, Ms. Potter?” She shook her head, blanket curled into her fists. “Child Protective Services. I am here to tell you that you are going to be removed from Mr. and Mrs. Dursley’s care effective immediately.” Against her will, tears started flowing down her face. The woman gave her a sad smile.

“We have to fill out some paperwork, but I have no doubt that a loving Wizarding family will want to take you and give you a safe place to call home. Now, I need to ask you some tough questions and seeing as Mr. Snape here is your Head of House, you have the right to request that he stay here.” She looked between the woman and him.

“Professor, can you please stay?” He nodded once. Lucius gave her a little bow and then walked out of the room with some other healers.

The woman, Ms. Trinity, made her relive everything they ever did to her. She made sure to tell her that Harry was also hit, but not to the same extent and that Harry often times pushed his punishments onto her. When she asked if anything more than hitting and verbal abuse, she promptly busted into tears. When Ms. Trinity tried to comfort her, she pushed her away, scurrying away and promptly falling off the bed.

Snape approached and held out his hand. She touched it and he slowly lowered himself to his knees and just looked at the floor. Jasmine’s sobbed, hiccupping, and then hesitantly inched over. He wrapped her in a protective hug, cloak hanging around her shoulders. It was protective, but not restrictive. When she calmed down and pulled away slightly, he did not immediately move away like she thought he would, merely sitting, letting her lay against him, one arm soothingly on hers.

After admitting, through lots of tears, that Vernon had raped her repeatedly, the woman had the gall to ask why.

“There is not a why in situations like this, and I will have your job for even uttering such foolishness. Vernon Dursley is a vile man and that is the only reason. Out.” Snape’s bark was no less terrifying to adults, and the woman scrambled to leave as he soothed Jasmine who had once again started bawling at her question.

“I didn’t…I didn’t do anything.”

“Shhh, I know. None of this is your fault. Many people will try to tell you it is, but you must ignore them. It’s _not your fault.”_

She fell into a fretful sleep, and when she woke up, she was alone.

A new CPS representative came in shortly after and told her that news has already spread that she has permanently been removed from the Dursleys. And with hers, Snapes, and Madame Pomfrey’s statements that Dumbledore knew about the abuse and sent her back _twice_ he had no right of guardianship over her, and that right was passed to her Head of House temporarily.

She was informed she would likely have choices before she was even released from St. Mungo’s. She was told if only one person petitioned, that would be who was rewarded guardianship. But if multiple people did, she could choose.

This _terrified_ her. That was a big decision. What if only arses like her bullies’ families petitioned. What if she ended right back up in another abusive place? She couldn’t handle having magic, the one thing about herself that she loved, turn against her. She couldn’t.

This prompted another panic attack causing the healers to give her a Sleeping Draught.

By the end of the week, the CPS representative, Mx. Ruth, had given her a stack of files and told her they were families that had petitioned so far. That if she liked one, she could go ahead and choose or wait, because they were anticipating more people to do so.

She knew that many who have done it would simply be because she survived an assault by Voldemort when she was a baby, but Harry had been the one hit, not her. She didn’t have any strange scars. But she still was a celebrity in the wizarding world. Not as big, but still one.

She flipped through the files and noted she was right. She only found one family there that she had actually met. So, when she was discharged a week later, she shyly held out the folder with the family in it to Mx. Ruth.

“That’s my choice,” she stated.


	5. Chapter 5

At the ministry, in clothes donated to her, she waited anxiously, knee bouncing as she thumped a pen against the palm of her hand. She was in an empty office, waiting while Mx. Ruth went and retrieved the couple who would soon be her guardians.

She hoped they weren’t mad.

They _did_ petition, but what if they only did it because they felt like they were obligated to? Then what should she do? She didn’t want to be a burden on anyone. She already was going to be, she knew it, everyone always thought so, but that didn’t mean that it just magically made everything okay to knowingly become one.

She jumped when the door opened and Mx. Ruth gave her a small smile as they led in the two adults. They stopped as Mx. Ruth closed the door behind him and moved to their seat. She anxiously met the gazes of the smiling Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy.

They were beautiful, and seeing them, she could clearly see what features Draco got from each.

Salazar, what was Draco going to think?

Jasmine jumped, anxiously standing up and giving them a forced smile, eyes wide as she stared at them.

“Jasmine, relax. We’re here for you, not the other way around.” Those simple words should not have affected her so much, but the sincerity of Mr. Malfoy’s words had her blinking back more tears.

“Thank you, Mr. Malfoy.” She swallowed and then stuck out her hand. He took it and bowed to her, Mrs. Malfoy bowing her head. “You were the one to…get me from the house?”

“Please, Lucius is fine. Especially since you’ll be living with us soon. I did, that’s correct.” She nodded jerkily, sitting back in the chair with enough force that it scooted.

“What’s the matter? Are we being too overbearing already?” Mrs. Malfoy asked, both of them taking a step back. Jasmine quickly shook her head.

“no, no. It’s just.” She stopped, and Ruth cleared their throat causing her to look at them.

“Remember, Jasmine, communication is important.” She remembered. The therapist had been spewing it at her lately but it still was _hard._

“anything you want to tell us, we will listen to,” Lucius said as he and his wife took the seats against the wall, furthest away from her, which helped her relax now that they were sitting.

“It’s just…I’ve never really had a family before. And you guys already have one, and I don’t want you to think you are obligated to do this, because you’re _not._ I don’t want to burden you, or mess up your family or…or-” She sniffed, shaking her head and raised her trembling hands to her face.

“Jasmine, we’re not here out of obligation. We’re here because we _want_ you to be part of our family. We were only ever able to have one child. And Draco is so excited about being a brother.”

“He is?” She perked up, looking at them. They both gave a smile and nodded.

“He is,” Lucius confirmed. She nodded, smiling, and looked at Mx. Ruth.

“Right then! Are we ready for the boring paperwork?” Jasmine gave a watery laugh and nodded, looking over at the Malfoys who were looking at her with excitement.

So, maybe this would finally be the time where things start going right for her.

Several hours later, and _a lot_ of paperwork later, Jasmine was officially in the care of the Malfoys. They looked at her and then to the crowd before leading her to the minister’s office to floo.

“Draco is with Severus for the night. We figured we’d give you time to settle before seeing him. If you’d rather have him, then, of course, we’ll get him.”

“no, no, it’s fine…” Lucius nodded and then grabbed a handful of floo powder.

“Have you ever traveled by floo?”

“No, Mrs. Malfoy.”

“Just Narcissa, love. Watch as Lucius does, okay?” She nodded and watched as Lucius stepped into the fireplace and loudly proclaimed ‘ _Malfoy Manor’_ before disappearing into green fire. Jasmine went to take a step but stopped when asked by Narcissa.

“If we ever do _anything_ you do not like, tell us, and we will stop. You’re a part of our family now, Jasmine. And we want you to adjust well, and to finally feel like you have a home and a safe place. I know we’ve met only today, but Draco will also be there to help you adjust.” Jasmine nodded, giving a thin-lipped smile before Narcissa motioned for her to go ahead. She grabbed some powder and took a deep breath before replicating what she saw Lucius do.

She fell through and was caught before she could completely lose her balance. She stood up, using Lucius to make sure she had her balance before he backed off. She looked around in awe at the giant sitting room.

It was easily bigger than the Dursley’s whole house!

“This is your house?”

“yes. Yours as well now.” She turned to them, biting her trembling lip. She nodded jerkily, wiping her eyes with her sleeves.

“Come along, we’ll show you to your room,” Lucius said. She froze, looking between both of them who exchanged worried glances.

“I have a room?”

“Of course,” Narcissa said, giving her a polite smile. Jasmine let out a shaky breath and nodded, following them, while taking in the giant place. It was mesmerizing, full of things she had _never_ seen before.

They went upstairs and passed moving portraits—just like the ones at Hogwarts, and stopped in front of a door.

“This is a guest room, we’re currently renovating your actual bedroom, but this should do for the next two days it takes to finish yours,” Lucius said and motioned for her to open it. She reached out and then looked back at them like they were going to attack as soon as she tried. But all she was met with was their encouraging expressions. She exhaled and turned the knob, pushing it open.

The room was gigantic, about the size of her dorm at Hogwarts, and had a giant bed with several pieces of furniture in it.

“I know it’s not much, but like I said, your room will be finished soon— _oof_ ” Jasmine threw herself at Lucius, wrapping her arms around his torso, holding him close, trying to stop tears from falling down her face.

“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” She cried, holding on to him like a lifeline. When his arms wrapped around her, she relaxed, knowing he wouldn’t push her away, and she cried. This time, they were tears of happiness and relief.

She was _free._

She pulled herself together and backed away, feeling her face hot as she wiped her eyes and apologized.

“You have nothing to apologize for.” She blinked back fresh tears and looked back to the room, before taking a few tentative steps forward. She looked around with a small smile on her face.

“would you like to eat dinner with us or in here?”

“I can eat in here?” She asked turning with wide eyes. Narcissa nodded and Jasmine nodded. “then in here, please. No offense to you or anything-”

“Jasmine, it is okay. We know you need to adjust.” She smiled gratefully at them.

“Tomorrow, I will go retrieve your possessions from your old house. You are welcome to come if you want, or you can just inform me what to get.” She swallowed heavily but nodded.

“I want to come.”

“You don’t have to; I want to make sure you know that.”

“I do, and I want to.”

“Okay, very well. Our house elf will bring you dinner shortly.” She smiled and they closed the door. She found herself waiting for the sound of a lock and tears of relief hit her again when she realized there was none. There was no lock to hold her in.

A house elf brought her the best food she had ever eaten, even beating Hogwarts food by miles, which she ate at a desk which was on the far wall. Afterwards, she looked at the bed and then crossed the room to open the door, not wanting to feel locked in not even for a moment before crawling into the massive bed, and falling to sleep, feeling safer than she had so far in her entire life.

When she woke up, she rolled out of bed with a grunt, thinking she was in Hogwarts for a second before the thought cleared. She went to the door and stepped out, looking down the hall.

“Oh! I was just coming to see if you were awake.” She jumped, turning to look at Narcissa. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Breakfast is ready, if you want to eat with us, or in your room again. I also have a change of clothes for you.”

She waved her wand and then handed her an outfit, not unlike the muggle clothes she was currently wearing. She nodded.

“Is Draco back?” Narcissa nodded. “What does he know?”

“Nothing,” she assured. “Just that we have guardianship of you now.” Jasmine nodded, shifting on her feet.

“I’ll join you then.”

“Severus is here too.” She nodded and then slipped into the bathroom in her room to change. That had been a shock yesterday, to see that. But either way, she changed and then clambered down the stairs, only to immediately realize she had no idea where she was going.

“Jasmine Potter!” She turned at the familiar voice and smiled at seeing the elf.

“Dobby!” She dropped to a kneel and caught him in a hug. “What are you doing? Harry said he freed you?”

“All part of the plan,” he said, backing up, tapping his head before leaning back to give her another hug.

“What plan?”

“Dobby says too much alreadys. Dobby says no more.” Jasmine laughed and nodded.

“Fair enough. Now, perhaps you could point me to wherever they eat breakfast here?” Dobby pulled away and nodded, his ears flapping.

“Yes! Dobby show you!” He grabbed her hand when she stood and started walking quickly, and she had to do a light jog to keep up, a little laugh leaving her. They arrived in a room, and Dobby immediately almost hit the table had Jasmine not grabbed him tighter to prevent that from happening.

“Potter!” She looked away from Dobby and smiled at Draco who came around the table to smirk at her. “I hear I have myself a new sister.” Her nose wrinkled at the term but that was of no fault to Draco and she nodded, shrugging her shoulders a little bit.

“Perhaps.” They chuckled, and he motioned for her to sit next to where he was a second ago. She nodded and together they made their ways to their seats. She smiled and gave a nod to Snape. “Professor.” He nodded back, drinking tea.

“Mother says we can take you to get you some wizarding clothes later on. She says you probably have none.” Jasmine nodded, pushing the food around on her plate. It took her a moment before she resettled into the mindset that it was okay to eat at the same time as other people.

“That sounds fun. Clothes like yours, right?” It was kind of a suit, but not really. It was just…wizarding clothes. In the time that Jasmine had knowledge of the magic world, there really was no other way to describe the clothes. Draco nodded, swallowing his mouthful.

“We _could_ go to Diagon Alley, since that is where you know, or we can go to Place Cachée, the French equivalent.”

“France?” She asked, sitting forward in her seat, eyes alight. Draco nodded, drinking some tea.

“France. The Malfoys originally came from there. We have a manor there. Mother, will we be staying in France at all this summer?” Both Draco and Jasmine turned to look at Narcissa who was looking pointedly at Lucius.

“I don’t see why not. If you both want to go, we’ll go sometime before you must return to Hogwarts.” Jasmine smiled, excitement in her chest.

She stayed silent the rest of breakfast, the others only idly chatting. When finished, Lucius looked at her.

“Are you sure you want to go?” She gave a shaky nod. “if you’re sure, go get your shoes.” She nodded and walked out of the kitchen only to call Dobby again. He had her shoes in his hands and she laughed, taking them with a thank you.

“I was just going to ask you to take me to my room, but this works too.” She joined Lucius in the sitting room.

“Would you like Severus to accompany us?” she didn’t even think about it before nodded. He held out his arm. “We are going to apparate.” She nodded, taking his arm, even when having no idea what that meant. But with a pop, she found out. When they landed on the street, he hurriedly caught her by her shoulders as she nearly hit the ground.

“Ugh, that’s not fun.”

“It is something that requires getting used to. Apologies, perhaps I should have warned you.” She shook her head brushing his apology off. She stood up and immediately felt sick to her stomach all over again at seeing the house.

“Are they there?”

“No, they are being held by the ministry.”

“Oh, okay.” She blew out air. “Okay, I’m okay.” She repeated to herself several times and then nodded, looking up at Lucius. He nodded and then they were walking towards the house. Each step made her feel like her stomach was in her throat.

She gulped when they stepped onto the porch and almost bolted. But she steeled herself. She wanted to do this. She wanted the last time that she was in the house to be on her terms, and leading towards better memories. When Lucius unlocked the door he asked her again if she was sure. And she was glad he was asking and nodded. He opened the door and she walked in, paling as she hurried past the stairs. She paled at the dark red stains around the cupboard and walked into the kitchen going to the locked cabinet.

Lucius unlocked it and she reached in, getting her trunk. She jumped up, grabbing her wand from the top shelf.

“They even took your wand?” She nodded, sighing as she felt the magic of the wand. She looked at Lucius.

“This is everything.”

“Wha- you have no personal belongings?” She shook her head. He gave a deep sigh and nodded. She walked past them, hurrying out of the house as fast as she could with the heavy trunk. Outside, she dropped her trunk and turned around, going through the hiding spots to get the books that the bastard didn’t find and shoved them in the trunk, and promptly puked into the garden beds.

Her hands shook as she took deep breaths, trying to calm down, telling herself that she was safe. She looked at Lucius and Professor Snape, both just wanting to help that she knew it was true. She was safe.


	6. Chapter 6

Later on, that afternoon, Jasmine, Draco, Narcissa, and Lucius all headed to the Wizarding alley of France. She got several day-to-day clothes, and some nicer ones for dinner parties, apparently. Just shopping for her own clothes nearly caused her to cry again, but she forced it down. She had cried enough this past week. That was enough.

That night, while wandering the halls that Draco toured her through, she was looking for the library, and she found it. She found it by bumping straight into Lucius as he came out, falling onto the floor, books falling out of her hands. When she looked up, all she saw was him standing above her while she was on the ground, and her blood froze in her veins, the memory of Vernon’s hands on her thighs causing her to shake. Immediately Lucius was on his knees, backed away from her.

She took a deep breath, smothering her whimpers into her hand. When she calmed herself, she looked over at him.

“I’m sorry.” He raised a hand flat out.

“You need not apologize for your emotions. You have a lot of learned behaviors from your time with those vermin and it will take time for you to unlearn them.” She nodded, and gathered her books, her thumping in her chest, hoping he wouldn’t say anything about them. If he read the titles, he didn’t show.

“I just wanted to read in the library. But I can go back to the room.”

“Jasmin, you’re welcome to read in there. Would you prefer if you were alone?” she thought for a second and then shook her head. He nodded. She walked in, once again overwhelmed by the beauty of it. She found a chair in a corner and immediately strode across the impossibly large room, folding herself in the chair. He retook his seat at the desk.

“I didn’t mean you had to stay.” He looked back at her, head tilted. “You were leaving the room when I ran into you.”

“I was simply taking a break from reading. I was only going to walk the hall once.” She nodded and then awkwardly looked down at the books in her lap, opening one, and reading more about the whole gender thing.

Again, it seemed to be perfectly describing how she felt, and she clutched the book tightly in her hands. So, she wasn’t a girl…then what was she?

And how would her new guardians take that?

Narcissa seemed overjoyed at shopping for a girl. She didn’t want to disappoint her. Not when she had taken her in when she had nowhere else to go.

Was transgender even a thing the Wizarding World even knew about? Because they didn’t know about a lot of things that she knew from Muggles.

What would happen if she told someone?

What happens if she tells someone and then, later on, discovers that she is, in fact, cis? They’d just say she was faking it, trying to get attention.

But she didn’t want attention. She had plenty of it for not dying in the presence of Voldemort, but she never wanted it. She just wanted to do her own thing on her own terms.

When she yawned for the fifth time and was actively fighting to keep her eyelids open, she figured she better get on to sleep. So, she gathered her books and stumbled out of the room, giving Lucius a quiet _‘good night’._

“Jasmine.” She stopped, turning to look at him as he stood from his seat. “You are more than welcomed to any book in this library that is not behind a lock or a spelled barrier.” She gave him a smile and nodded, before going through the maze and _eventually_ finding her way back to the room, and collapsing onto the bed.

The next afternoon, when she went to the library, she had let go of the fear that Lucius had read the titles of the books she had dropped. That feeling came back, but not in fear, when she stepped into the library. On the seat she was on the night before, was a book titled _Gender and the Magics That Can Help._

Eyes filling with tears, she picked it up and began reading it. It was about trans people, and different magic that could alleviate gender dysphoria, help people make their bodies match who they were.

“Dobby?” She tried and with a pop, he appeared. She jumped, knees pulling up to hide the book.

“What can Dobbys do for Jasmine Potter?” She flinched a little, a gritty feeling taking over her. She shook her head.

“Can I take books out of here to the room I’m sleeping in?”

“Yes, yes! Reading good for the brain! Read anywhere! If gets wet, let Dobby know and Dobby fix it.” She smiled and nodded, giving him her thanks. She took the book with her back to the bedroom and sat down with the other books and just _read._

She felt like it was wrong for her to even think she could be, but she knew she wasn’t a girl. She knew it. Now that she had words to describe it, and other people’s experience. She knew that this is what she’s felt for a while.

In the giant bathroom, with a too-big shirt that she stole from Harry last year, as it had fewer holes in it, and holding her curly hair in a ball behind her head, she sobbed, dropping her hair and falling to the floor. Pressing her back against the wall, she sucked in a breath, breathing to the rhythm Draco had taught her on the train at the end of the school year.

Calming down enough, she- no. _He._ He was going to use he/him pronouns from now on. He was not going to stop now. This felt right.

So, calming down enough, he washed his face and stumbled into the room, going to the trunk to get his summer homework out. This would be a first, getting to do his summer work. The year before the- _NO,_ he was not going to think about them anymore, either.

Last year, he wasn’t capable of completing his summer homework. So, he got started first with his least favorite classes and work until dinner time. He changed his shirts for one of the ones Narcissa bought him the day before and then joined everyone at the dinner table, sitting across from Draco this time, as opposed from beside him, since Snape wasn’t there.

Lucius sat at the head, and Narcissa across from him. Well, what would have been the head. The table was no longer the long-ish one, now a transfigured and much smaller round table. Small enough that everyone could reach each other if they wanted.

Dinner went by quietly until Draco asked if he wanted to play quidditch this weekend, causing him to blink at him.

“Quidditch?”

“yeah, Blaise, Pansy, Theo, you know, all of them, when we get together we play quidditch. You want to join?”

“I’ve never played.”

“We’ll show you! Come on, I saw you in flying class, you’re a natural. It’ll be fun.” He smiled and held up a finger.

“I’ll try for _one_ game. If I hate it then I’ll land and won’t ever go back into the sky.” Draco laughed but agreed. Dinner passed by and then dessert was presented.

“Jasmine,” the name grated him, but he turned to Narcissa. He hadn’t told her, and he wasn’t sure what would be better anyway. It was just a reminder to him of what he knew he wasn’t anymore. “Your room will be done tomorrow. Of course, you’ll be welcomed to decorate it however you want, so once we show it to you, you think you’ll want to shop for some things to put in it?”

“For real? I can decorate it?” He asked and Narcissa nodded.

“However you want,” Lucius added.

“Even if you for some unfounded reason you want to decorate it Gryffindor you can,” Narcissa said.

“Please don’t do that,” Draco chimed in with a smile and ducked when Narcissa reached to ruffle his hair with a roll of her eyes.

“No Gryffindor here, yuck.” Everyone laughed good-naturedly and Jasmine, for lack of another name, smiled. Perhaps Jazz, at least until he finds a better one. He nodded to himself, taking a sip of his water. Yeah, Jazz for now.

After dinner, Jazz assisted Draco with potions homework before going up to his room. He nervously paced the room, chewing on his fingertips. He picked up the book he borrowed from the library and left the room, making his way through the increasingly familiar halls. If he was going to be kicked out for trying to be true to himself, he’d rather it be before he gets attached.

The library door was opened, light filtering into the hall. He walked in and froze, heartrate increasing now that he was actually in the same room with Lucius. He looked up when he came in and gave a gentle smile.

“Come to read again?” Panicking, he nodded quickly and made a beeline for the chair in the corner, curling up and opening the book to a random page and immediately flipped pages. That section was for transfeminine people, and that was certainly not him.

“Dobby told me you asked him if you could take books out of here.” He looked up to see Lucius looking at him. “This is your home now, and I want you to be comfortable here. I want you to be free to be yourself.” He nodded and Lucius smiled, turning back to the papers on the desk.

Jazz sighed and flopped his head back. Taking a deep breath and tried to see if there was a single Gryffindor bone in his body, and got up walking to the desk, putting the book on the corner. Lucius looked at it and nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“I’m not a girl,” he spewed in one breath. Lucius put down his quill and turned to him.

“Okay,” he nodded. “What else?”

“I don’t know if I’m a boy, but I know I’m not a girl.” He blinked tears out of his eyes. Lucius stood up.

“Can I touch you?” He nodded, sniffling. Lucius' hands landed on his shoulders and he looked up the light gray eyes focused on him. “That’s fine. It’s okay not to know. How would you like me to refer to you? Seeing as girl is no longer an option?”

“I…I don’t know. Just not girl. Boy is fine. And he/him pronouns?”

“Great. Do not ask me to use your correct pronouns. Tell me. Do you have another name?” He swallowed, shaking, and shook his head.

“No. Jazz is good until I find one though.”

“Jazz it is.” His eyes filled with tears, and he reached up to wrap his hands around Lucius’ wrists.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Can I hug you?” He surged forward, throwing his arms around Lucius.

“Thank you. No one’s ever listened to what I want before,” He sniffled. Lucius tightened his hold on him.

“I will always listen to you. Understand me? _Always._ It is a shame you’ve never had the experience before, but I guarantee you that myself and my wife will make this a home for you. Your home. And you deserve to be listened to in your home. You deserve to be listened to, and treated right, and called and referred to be the _right thing._ You deserve to feel safe in your own home and I will make you know that this is somewhere you can have all those things.” Lucius’ voice broke in the middle of that, and Jazz held tighter, burying his face in his shirt, allowing himself to cry in his arms.

Later on, both of them, much more composed, were in the kitchen eating ice cream in the dark. “Have you thought about any names?” Jazz blushed and shook his head.

“Honestly, I was just shocked about finding a name for something that I’ve felt.”

“Understandable. If you would like to help picking one, I’d be happy to assist.” He smiled brightly at Lucius who relaxed at seeing the smile.

“yeah… you’ve named someone before. I haven’t.” they both chuckled and then looked up when a light came around the corner. Narcissa raised her brows at Lucius.

“Lucius…it’s after two. Why are you giving Jasmine ice cream?” Lucius put his hand on Jazz’s hand and squeezed lightly. He looked up at him and nodded at his silent question, them having already talked about it.

“Jazz and I have been talking. And I think we both needed the distraction. I didn’t give him too much, just enough to help cheer him up a bit.” Jazz anxiously watched for Narcissa’s reaction. Could clearly see the words click in her head, and then she smiled, and Jazz relaxed.

“Okay, but both of you, bed soon. Can’t have you stay awake all night.” With a smile, Narcissa left.

“So, only Draco now,” Jazz said as he anxiously rubbed his face and turned to Lucius.

“And the house elves, but that’s simple.” He nodded, running his hands over his face.

“Can…” He trailed off and shook his head.

“Jazz, if you want something, I need you to tell me, and we will talk about it to see what I can do.” Jazz looked up and sighed, nodding.

“Can…can I cut my hair?” he whispered and waited. Before, that would have got him hit.

“Of course.” He looked up, a small smile on his face. “Now, off to bed. Narcissa was correct. We are both up when we should be in bed.” Jazz nodded and they headed through the mansion and when they got to the bedroom, Jazz hesitated for a second and then timidly asked if he could have a hug.

Lucius immediately swept him into a hug, and he relaxed into it. He had never really had hugs, and he was finding that they were quite nice. And comforting. Lucius told him goodnight and he nodded, leaving the door opened before collapsing into bed, smiling like a fool as he fell asleep. The first time he’s ever done that.


	7. Chapter 7

When Jazz sleepily walked into the dining room, Draco greeted him with a bright, ‘Morning Jazz’ which had him smiling, giving Lucius a larger one. Breakfast was quiet, everyone looking tired and definitely feeling it.

“Jazz,” he looked at Narcissa, “Are you ready to see your room?”

“I really have my own?”

“Of course, it’d be silly for you and Draco to share when we have all the space.” She smiled. That’s not quite how he meant that, but he nodded, though his heart was pounding. All four of them were making their way through the halls, and back towards the north wing where the rest of their rooms were. Dobby appeared with a _crack!_ And happily walked beside them.

“Dobby cants waits to show Jazz his room!” Jazz smiled and bumped shoulders with Draco as they followed the adults. They stopped in front of a set of grand double doors with _Jazz_ carved in silver under the Malfoy crest in the center. His eyes watered, but quickly blinked them away.

“Go on, Potter. Have a look.” Draco nudged him forward and he scowled at him before nodding, taking a deep breath, and opened the doors.

Immediately his eyes widened, jaw dropping. The room was much larger than the other one. The walls were a soothing gray, a giant bed against the far wall, headboard styled similarly to the one at Hogwarts. There was floor to ceiling windows opposite the door, which led to a balcony.

There were sparkling words in the air which said

WELCOME TO YOUR NEW HOME!

Several house elves were standing there, smiling at him.

He took a deep, shaky breath and turned to the three of them.

“thank you.” Narcissa waved him closer and he went into her arms, enjoying the motherly warmth she exuded. Is this how people who grew up with actual families felt? Is this why people liked going home in the holidays. Because of feelings like the ones they gave off?

Jazz moved onto Lucius, who happily hugged him back. When he pulled back, he was offered a hand.

“I do believe our truce is going to need a revision.” He laughed, accepting it, and nodded. Draco laughed with him and looked at his mother.

“So, shopping?”

Salazar, he could already tell she loved shopping.

First stop, was getting a haircut. He looked at it, smiling. It was short, similar to Draco’s, only slightly different because his own hair was thicker and curlier. His gray eyes sparkled when he looked up at his guardians.

Then, they were off to France. Immediately after apparating, he was bombarded by French shouts. Narcissa had a hold on Draco, and Lucius kept his hand on Jazz’s shoulder as they approached a statue. They ducked through it and was immediately greeted by the sight of many wizards going about their business. Jazz smiled, the sight of a part of the wizarding world never ceasing to excite him. Even if he was here the day before.

He walked with them to the shop from before, and Lucius greeted the man in French, and then Jazz was on a pedestal, being measured again and fit for more masculine-styled clothes. Wizard’s clothes.

For most of the day, he was dragged to one shop or another, (including going to Diagon Alley) and Lucius checked on him quite often, making sure he could handle going to places. He was thankful for it, but assured him that he was okay.

Arriving back at the Malfoy Manor, Lucius laid down the shrunken packages on the floor of his room and returned them to their rightful size.

A large Slytherin banner was the first thing he hung up with the help of Draco. Narcissa charmed the bedspread to be a deep green with silver shifting accents which he was really excited about. The rest was some books he placed on a shelf, that seemed pretty cool and interesting, and then arranging the clothes in his closet, insisting on doing it himself without magic.

He never had enough clothes for a closet, nevermind having his own closet before, and he wanted to hang them himself.

The closet was large, about the same size as Harry’s room at the Dursley’s and he smiled when he filled a portion of it with clothes.

Stepping back into the empty bedroom, he looked around, wand in his hand. He liked the room, and he did not know how to decorate it. The Slytherin banner was nice, but he didn’t know what else to do with it. He spun his wand in his fingers, happy to just _have_ it again. Even if he couldn’t use it until September, it was good to have it in his hand. To feel the magic of it rumbling between his fingers.

The next day, he was informed that everyone was coming over, by Draco, who insisted that he play Quidditch as well.

“Draco, if he doesn’t feel up to it, he doesn’t have to,” Lucius chastised lightly, and Jazz gave him a grateful look. Draco deflated a little bit but nodded, going back to picking at his breakfast.

“I’ll give it a shot. But I’m warning you, I’m going to be bad.”

“Nonsense!” He said, smirking. “You’re going to be great.” He rolled his eyes but gave up trying to convince him otherwise. After breakfast he excused himself to change into what he thought was more suitable for sports, but Draco immediately pulled him back into the room and then the closet and threw clothes at his face. He flinched but concealed it well, focusing on the moment.

“Those are going to be what you want to wear.” Jazz nodded and then shooed him out. Changing, he found that these clothes indeed felt like they’d be better at moving freely in. Going downstairs, he was greeted by Theo. The others looked at him and then at Draco.

“My parents are Jazz’s new guardians. I’m sure you saw that he was removed from the muggle home.”

“Good, no wizard should be stuck with muggles,” Blaise drawled, giving him a very small smile.

“Come on!” Pansy yelled, dragging Draco by the hand. “I wanna play!” Jazz chuckled and followed the group. Draco gave him a broom and Jazz shook his head, taking it.

“I’m telling you; this is going to be a disaster.” He was on the team with Draco, Blaise, Pansy, and three other older kids that didn’t go to Hogwarts and he’d been told their names, but he honestly wasn’t paying attention.

“It’ll be fine. You’re going to be a chaser, okay?” He nodded.

When the game started, he realized he quite likes the feeling of the wind beating down on him as he soared through the air. The _freedom_ of it was intoxicating, nothing could stop him, he was completely on his own.

He also turned out to be really good at being a chaser, scoring many of the team's points before Draco caught their modified snitch. He landed, immediately greeted by the rest of his team. Draco landed and gave him a smirk.

“A disaster, I believe you said?” He rolled his eyes, shoving him, but the wide smile was plastered to his face. He _loved_ that.

“Another game?” His teammates smiled and back in the air they went.

That night, Draco and Jazz were in the library, after they may or may have _not_ gotten into some of Lucius’ firewhiskey, laughing as they tried to keep their voices down. Draco was listing off any name that he could think of that started with a ‘ _J_ ’ and Jazz was laughing along with him. Draco was laying on the desk, head over the edge backwards, Jazz on the floor, hand reaching up to card through Draco’s loose hair.

“Oh! What about James?”

“ _Salazar,_ no!” They both busted out laughing. “What would that be like? Uh—‘ _hey, I’m James Potter Jr. I named myself after a dead guy I’ve never even met.’?”_ They both chuckled and Jazz shook his head.

Perhaps something was wrong with him, but he never felt any one way or another about his parents, and he _definitely_ wasn’t going to name himself after them.

“Y’know, the Blacks, that’s what mum is, they name their kids by stars…Just az fought.” They both chuckled at his words, and jumped when the door opened. Jazz slammed his head on the desk and groaned.

“Well, what have we here?” They both looked at Lucius who was looking at both of them with a raised brow. “Go to bed. We’ll discuss this in the morning. With your mother.” Draco gave a quick nod and the two of them stumbled out of the library and found their respective bedrooms, going to sleep almost instantly.

Breakfast was tense, Draco refusing to look anywhere other than his plate, and Jazz was trying to concentrate on anything other than the pounding in his head. After breakfast the two boys stood next to each other when Lucius stood, turning his back on them.

“I understand teenager curiosity. The temptation of alcohol…I was once your age. I consumed firewhiskey well before your age, might I add.”

“Father, it was me, not Jazz.” Draco took several steps forward, being only a couple behind Lucius.

“But to _steal it._ ” His voice was darker as he snapped and turned. Jazz moved without thinking, striding ahead and yanking Draco behind him as he waited for the blow.

“Jazz…what are you doing?” Draco tentatively asked. He opened his eyes and saw Lucius was pale, looking down at him with wide eyes. His lips parted as he looked between Lucius and Draco, the latter looking at him with furrowed brows.

“I- what…he-”

“Draco, leave us.”

“Father?”

“Draco. I need to talk to Jazz. I’m not mad about the whiskey, I just need you to understand that you’re not old enough and if you’re going to drink I’d rather it be under our supervision. Now go.” Draco nodded and left. Lucius rubbed his hand over his face as he took steps away from Jazz.

Jazz’s thoughts were racing as he steeled himself, narrowing his eyes at Lucius.

“I was not going to _hit_ him, Jazz.”

“But you…”

“I raised my voice. That is the only thing I do. I do not _hit children._ And no one should. I am deeply sorry that that is what you know, but I will never raise my hand against you, and I never have against Draco and never will.” Jazz blinked hard, grinding his teeth, searching to see if Lucius was lying.

He saw none.

“It is brave of you that you would have taken that blow if there had been one, but Jazz. There wasn’t one. And there never will be from me. I meant what I said to you. This is a safe place for you.” Jazz nodded jerkily. He went to walk away but stopped when Lucius started talking again. “And Jazz, you have no obligation to take hits for others.” With that, Jazz made his way to his room.

Later on, he snagged a book from the library and made his way to where Lucius and Narcissa were in the garden. They looked up when came close and smiled at him.

“Hello Jazz.”

“Hello, Narcissa.” He scuffed his feet, looking down. “I have a question…”

“Of course, sit. What is it?” Jazz took the seat and hesitated before putting the astronomy book on the table.

“Draco said the Blacks name their children after space things…”

“Would you like to do that?” Lucius asked and he hesitantly looked up. Lucius was looking at with a half-smile while Narcissa had a wide, teary smile. He nodded once.

“If that’s alright.” At once, Narcissa had moved from her seat and was hugging him tightly. He squeaked but moved to hug her back.

“Aw, of course, it’s alright. I’d be honored if you would do that.” She pulled back, giving him a bright smile. “Would you like help?” He smiled and she opened the book, Lucius shifting to be closer as the three of them looked through star names.

He found one that he liked after a while and shyly pointed to it.

“oh, I think that’s a lovely one. You think that fits?” he nodded, a small smile on his face as he looked up at the bright smile of Narcissa. “Okay! Altair it is!” He smiled, the name feeling foreign but knew he’d get used to it.

His new name was Altair and he’d chosen it with the help of the people who saved him from going back to hell on earth, and by using one of their family’s traditions.

He had never once felt like he was part of a family before. But he certainly was starting too.

When he told Draco the name he picked, he smiled and nodded, and then the two of them went to work on transfiguration homework. And he definitely _did not_ cry when he saw the name on his door under the Malfoy crest. Nope. Not him.


	8. Chapter 8

The next several weeks were spent with him laughing and getting to know the Malfoys, becoming really _good_ at quidditch when the others came, and beating Draco to his completion of homework.

He woke up in cold sweats, the vulgar stench and feel of Vernon all over him until he made it to the shower and broke down, heaving up whatever was in his stomach.

He put on a façade, portraying that he was fine, when in reality, that- that monster was behind his eyelids.

They got their letters for the next school year at the end of July, the day of Altair’s birthday. He had gone down to breakfast, letter in hand, and immediately jumped at seeing the three of them standing in the doorway.

“uhh…good morning?”

“Happy birthday, Altair!” he blinked at this, and then smiled at the three of them as he got hugged. He saw a cake on the table, a giant one at that, with his name on it. It was his first birthday cake.

He smiled with the three of them, letter forgotten as they handed him presents.

“I’ve…you got me presents?”

“Of course! It’s your birthday, after all,” Draco said like it made all the sense in the world. And maybe it did to him, but not to Altair. He was supposed to be silent on his birthday, acting like he didn’t exist.

He was ripped out of his thoughts when Draco shoved a green and silver parcel into his hands.

“Well, go on then, open it.” He smiled and nodded, pulling the paper off of it. It was a book thingy, the thing you put on either side of a stack of books, so they don’t fall over, in the shape of a snake, the Slytherin emblem proudly on display on both sides. He smiled up at Draco who nodded. Narcissa was next, gifting him new dress robes, new casual wear and shoes. He smiled at her, though really, he was used to wearing the same two outfits, so he wasn’t really sure how this was going to work.

Lucius gave him a bracelet which was charmed, the two snakes constantly moving each other, wrapping around his wrist. And a broom.

“It looked to me like you were quite enjoying Quidditch, so I figured I’d get you one and-” Altair interrupted him by slamming into him with a hug. When he pulled back, both he and Draco were ready to go fly and both adults had to remind them to eat first and then wait before they went anywhere near the sky. The boys grumbled but sat down at the table and eating breakfast and then cake.

When the two adults apologized for so few presents, Altair nearly choked. They said it was because they didn’t know him quite well enough yet.

He was quick to inform him that he loved them all and that it was more than he could have wished for.

When breakfast was wrapping up, Narcissa asked if there was anything he wanted to retrieve from his vault, causing him to frown.

“I don’t have access to the vault.”

“What are you talking about?” Draco asked, brows furrowed. “It’s your vault. Yours and Potter’s. You two are the descendants of the House of Potter.” Altair shrugged, poking at his breakfast.

“Harry is the only with access. I’ve never gone into it.”

“Rubbish! We’ll go to Gringotts and get that settled. You feel up to doing it today?” His eyes widened but he nodded at Lucius.

So instead of Quidditch after breakfast, Draco went to Blaise’s, and Narcissa, Lucius, and Altair all went to Gringotts. Walking through, Diagon Alley drew many looks from onlookers and he stuck close to Lucius' side, stopping himself from laughing at the way people moved away when Lucius sneered at them.

In the bank, his cane clicked on the floor and Altair kept his head down, not liking how the goblins looked at him. Before or now.

He stayed back a little bit with Narcissa while Lucius talked to one of the goblins. The three of them were ushered into a back room where Altair anxiously took a seat. A goblin sat across from the three of them, glowering down his pointed nose at them.

“this here says that Altair nee Jasmine Potter was in fact blood adopted by Mr. and Mrs. James Potter on August 1, 1981. Hence the reasoning that he has been barred access to the main vault. He has his own inheritance vault. Does he have his key?” Altair stared blankly at the goblin, processing everything that the goblin had just said and with a shy glance to his guardians, they shared the sentiment.

“Uh…no, he has no key. I beg your pardon; did you say he was adopted by the Potters?” The goblin gave a single nod to Lucius. “Do you have recorded of his birth family?”

“Sealed by ancient magic. If you have no key, you cannot access the vault.”

“Who has my key, then?” Altair snapped, standing up. “If it’s my vault, then where is the key?”

“I assume it would be with your guardians, Mr. Potter.”

“These _are_ my guardians.” The goblin shifted and then stood from his seat on the raised platform.

“If there has indeed been an indiscretion, we shall take care of it. One moment while I go inform a superior.” He watched the goblin walk off and then stared at Lucius.

“I’m adopted?” He furrowed his brows as he looked up at them.

“I had no knowledge of it, but it indeed makes sense. You hardly look like either of them,” Narcissa said gently. “Please, sit down. We will find out everything we can.” At her comforting tone, Altair swallowed and nodded, doing as she said.

His foot bounced anxiously as he waited for the goblin to come back. When he finally did, he wasn’t alone. With him was one that was obviously much older and he grunted when he looked at them, holding a scroll.

“You claim to have no access to your inheritance vault from the Potters?” When Lucius nodded, Altair realized he was talking to him, and he nodded.

“That’s correct. I didn’t even know I had one.”

“This is worrisome. We have records of withdrawals being made quite often. Do you know perhaps who may have the key?”

“No. Wait! Dumbledore had Harry’s key if that means anything.” The goblins exchanged glances.

“Give us a new key. Just void the key for now. We will be wanting a full investigation done, however,” Lucius said causing the goblins to nod and shuffle papers around.

“What do you mean by my birth parents are sealed by ancient magic?” He asked. Lucius answered while the goblins continued with their work.

“It means someone invoked an old rite to bind your lineage. And…” he trailed off, brow furrowing before he turned to the goblins. “I need you to check to see if Altair has any other bindings on him. If he has any—purge them.” The goblins nodded while Altair furrowed his brows.

“If anyone has placed anything magical on you, they will remove it.”

“What kind of things?” 

“We don’t know that there is anything, Altair. It’s better to be safe than sorry, yeah?” Narcissa said and Altair nodded, though he still didn’t understand. He just asked about his birth parents.

“As for the ancient magic, I’m sure we’ll find a way around it. In simple terms, it means that Gringotts does not know your parentage.” He nodded at Lucius’ explanation and jumped when one of the goblins snapped.

“With us, Mr. Potter.” He looked at Lucius who nodded encouragingly. He followed behind the goblins who led him to a large stone room with runes carded deep into the stone everywhere. He was instructed to lay on a stone slab, the one place clear of runes.

“You will feel nothing, just try to remain still. It should not take more than ten minutes. We will return to fetch you when it is done.” With that, the goblins left, and he was awkwardly laying on the stone.

The runes on the ceiling above him started glowing first a dull white, before brightening and turning to red. His eyes moved as far as they could, to see other glowing red too. Several glowed blue, a few green. He watched, hearing a steady thrum of magic in his ears, relaxing him even in this unknown.

He could feel the magic brush against his skin, feeling much different than the magic the Malfoys did, reminding him of the magic of the castle. His eyes drifted closed, lulled by the steady and comforting hum of the magic.

When he woke up, he was in a different room, and he snapped up. He calmed down significantly when he saw Lucius and Narcissa at the other end of the room, talking to a goblin. He was _exhausted._ Narcissa looked over and when she saw him, he immediately came over, wrapping him in a hug.

“…is everything okay?” He asked. She pulled back, a single tear falling from her eye.

“yes, yes. Everything is fine. I will wait for Lucius to join us to explain what the goblins have informed us of.” Altair furrowed his brow, nervousness licking at his brain.

Was something wrong? Was he going to have to leave them? Now? After he finally felt like he belonged with them? Now that he finally felt like he had a _family?_

Narcissa rubbed his shoulder lightly and Altair looked up with trepidation when Lucius approached, mouth turned down, a crease in his brow.

“Are you getting rid of me?” Immediately both of them looked at him with wide eyes.

“No! Oh dear, no! Everything is fine. You’re not going anywhere. We’re family now, remember?” Narcissa asked, squeezing his shoulder.

“But, then what’s wrong?” Lucius sighed and motioned to the bed. Altair nodded and watched as he sat on the edge, catching Narcissa’s other hand in his.

“I doubt you know the significance of that which I am about to tell you, but that is of no fault of your own. It’s more known in the wizarding world and Dumbledore wouldn’t dare teach the children the way the world works.” He took a deep shaky breath, and Narcissa squeezed his hand.

“I don’t understand. You two look so upset.”

“It’s because someone did something to you.” Altair furrowed his brows at Narcissa. “Lucius, just explain it already.” With that, she looked down at her hand in her husband’s hand with teary eyes.

“Someone bound your magic in many different ways. It stunted your magical abilities, but now they have been freed. With how many bindings you had, it’s a wonder you didn’t turn into an obscurus. The many bindings are now broken, and you will likely find that your magic is much different from before. Probably a lot stronger as well.”

“Who would do that?”

“I don’t know. It’s viewed as one of the worst things that could happen to a magical child. You could have been barely been a toddler. The spells used were on too long to even hope to find who placed them. They were able to determine to have been placed by the same person.”

“Why would someone do that?” Lucius and Narcissa exchanged gazes and Narcissa shook her head.

“I have no idea, Altair. But no one else will ever hurt you again. I promise you.”

“Whoever did this to Mr. Potter must have wanted him to appear as to not have magic.” The three of them turned to a goblin who approached the bed. “Along with the magic binding, there were…more specific spells. To prevent anyone of blood from locating you. Whatever house you belong to, I daresay, believes you’re dead because of it.” Altair blinked hard and Lucius dismissed the goblin with a sneer and turned to him, hand outstretched.

Altair grabbed it and launched himself into Lucius’ side. He couldn’t quite grasp how anyone would want to do that. Or _why._

“Altair…there is something else I need to tell you.” He nodded, allowing Lucius to know he could take it. “Dumbledore is trying to regain magical guardianship of you-”

“No!” He shrieked, latching onto him tighter. “No! Please don’t let him take me away from you. Please!” He clenched his eyes shut, already fearing the beady eyes of Vernon again.

“I won’t. _Altair,_ I won’t. I promise you…we were going to ask you regardless but, would you like for us to adopt you?” He sniffled, looking up at him. Lucius’ steely gray eyes were looking at him with nothing but compassion. He looked at Narcissa who smiled.

“Really?”

“Yes, really. We love having you as part of our family. A plus, is that Dumbledore will have absolutely no right.”

“Yes! I wouldn’t choose anywhere else to go.” They both smiled at him and nodded.

After leaving the bed, they made their way back to the little office thing, where Lucius proudly stated he was going to blood adopt Altair.

He was nervous when the goblin brought out a silver knife, but Lucius took it and gave it to Narcissa who cut her palm, holding it over a bowl, but not allowing any to drop down yet. Next Lucius went and then he motioned for Altair to join them.

“This will sting a little, but we’ll heal it immediately after we’re finished, okay?” he nodded. “Would you rather do it yourself or do you want me to?” He flinched and held out his hand for the knife. Lucius passed it over and then used his non-injured hand to instruct him on where to cut.

He did so, barely even feeling it. Narcissa and Lucius linked bloody hands over an ornate metal bowl with runes carved into it. They instructed Altair to hold his hand under theirs at an angle. As soon as he did, the runes in the bowl glowed a deep purple, and blood dripped from the Malfoy’s hands onto his and into the bowl. The runes turned gold, a gold smoke steamed from the bowl, raising to wrap around the three of their hands.

It was cold, the gold mist, then it turned into a chain before it faded away, the runes of the bowl quieting down. Narcissa and Lucius took their hands back, and Lucius grabbed Altair’s hand and with a wave of his wand, the cut was healed.

“Congratulations. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. You are now rightfully the parents of Altair Potter Malfoy.” A strange, warm emotion swam in his chest as his eyes watered, before he heard breaking glass, and Lucius covered him. He was shaking when Lucius stepped back, vision flickered back to the Dursley’s living room.

“Altair. Altair, it’s okay. You’re safe.” He blinked tiredly, hearing exaggerated breaths that he matched his own too. He blinked after several moments and was met with Lucius’ calm and understanding gaze. He was on the floor, back pressed against a cool wall.

“It’s alright,” Lucius murmured to him and he nodded quickly, taking a deep breath, and apologized. “Do _not_ apologize for your emotions or your panic attacks. They are all valid.” He nodded and almost apologized again when Lucius sent him an amused glare. Altair laughed and nodded.

“Here you are, Mr. Malfoy.” The goblin held out the ceremonial knife, and on the handle, between runes, was his name _ALTAIR POTTER MALFOY_ carved into the hilt. The goblin handed over a sheath. He looked at Lucius who smiled at him.

Lucius paid for the removal of the bindings and they left.

“Lucius…do you think he should get a new wand?” Altair looked up, startled. What was wrong with his wand? Narcissa looked at him and smiled. “It’s just that your magic is bound to be very different now, your wand may not be the best fit anymore now that all of it is accessible.”

“What do you think? Should we stop by Ollivanders?” Lucius asked.

“You think it’ll be worth it?” Lucius nodded so he agreed. They walked in and the old man immediately greeted them, telling all three of them the wands they had.

“Ah, yes. You see, my son here had bindings on him that we have broken. We’d like to see if another wand would be better for him.” Altair gaped at Lucius, warmth filling his chest. He called him _his son._

He didn’t think, just moving forward and hugging him. He let out a surprised laugh and wrapped his arms around him, squeezing. When Altair pulled back, he wiped his eyes. “Sorry, didn’t mean to attack you.” Lucius smiled, ruffling his hair.

“Nonsense, it’s fine.” They smiled and Altair turned back to the man. He held out a hand which Altair met.

“Hmm, yes. I do believe you would not benefit as well with your current wand. Let’s see here, I have a feeling you’re going to be very tricky.” He thought about how long it had taken him to get his Chestnut wand and figured he was right.

He was. He was there _all day._ And not a single wand responded well to him. Ollivander told them they could either come back the next day or try another shop. Because with the way his magic truly was, he really did need a new wand.

He was exhausted after removing the bindings, but especially after standing all day trying to find a wand. They got back to the manor and he immediately made his way to be, collapsing into sleep, not even thinking that he should eat.

The next morning, he stumbled into the kitchen, yawning. Draco raised his brows at him.

“Tired?”

“You try going through getting bindings removed and see how refreshed you feel,” he grumbled, sitting at the table and promptly putting his head down on the table.

“Feel up to going to another wand shop today or do you want to wait?”

“Wanna go,” he murmured picking up his head to give a sleepy smile to Narcissa.

“Back up. Did you say _bindings?”_ Draco asked. Altair and Lucius both immediately sent their gazes to Narcissa who sighed and gave them a playful glare before explaining everything that happened yesterday. When she was done, Draco stared blankly at her before standing from the table so fast, his chair knocked over.

“Who the _bloody hell_ would do that?” Altair furrowed his brows.

“This means a lot to you guys, doesn’t it?” They all nodded.

“Whoever did, could have very well killed you, just for wanting to stop you from having magic.”

“If I never had magic…I’d never been able to leave the Du-” His heart picked up, ears ringing. He shook his head, the reality of the situation crashing down onto him like ice-cold water.

He shook, falling off the chair, and when found his arm, he screamed, shuffling back, begging for it to be over. For it just to be over…


	9. Chapter 9

After his panic attack, Altair had been given a calming draught, which he gratefully drank. They spent the day in the gardens, doing things by hand, which was nice, it calmed his mind. Draco didn’t ask, but he knew he was curious about what caused it.

He also said that no matter what, he was the older brother, which made him laugh. As if.

The next day, however, Altair was excited about going to the wand shop in France, Cosme Acajor. It was yet another long day of wasting their time. The shop owner there also agreed that they keep trying to find another wand.

The next day, Lucius asked him if it was alright if only the two of them went out. He agreed, so after breakfast, they bid their goodbyes to Draco and Narcissa and apparated away. They were outside, but it was dark-darker than anything he’d experienced before, and _freezing._ Lucius quickly gave Altair a warm coat, but it really did _very little._

He cast ‘ _Lumos_ ’ and kept his hand on Altair’s shoulder. “this place is for more…versatile wizards. If anyone ever asks, you cannot tell them we were here, understood?” Altair nodded, squinting into the darkness. Even though the light charm was cast, he couldn’t see more than the ground. And the ground was strange.

It sounded and felt like they were walking on snow, but there was none.

“This shop has more…experimental wands, and I think it’s worth giving it a shot.” Altair nodded, shuffling closer in any case. There was no way to see anything, yet Lucius walked with sure steps, and then abruptly stopped. He looked at Altair.

“No matter what happens in here, you are perfectly safe. Understand?” He nodded quickly and Lucius nodded, and then reached over, tapping his wand in a specific pattern on something, before light appeared making Altair squint. Lucius steered him in, and a door closed behind them.

Immediately, Altair was hit with warming charms of the building and sighed, teeth chattering in his skull. Lucius rubbed his shoulder apologetically. The shop was dimly lit, and shelves full of all kinds of stuff. From fully prepared potions to bones.

Someone called out and Lucius turned, wand raised. The man raised his hand, he only had the one, and asked Lucius something in a language Altair didn’t come close to recognizing. Lucius responded quickly and the man left. Lucius steered him to another area where a visible door was, which he tapped on with his foot.

The door opened after a moment. Lucius walked in first, motioning for him to stay where he was. He looked around, the room practically vibrating with the magic in it.

“Altair.” He turned, seeing Lucius motioning for him to come in. He did so.

The man that greeted them was…strange. He looked like if you combined Filch, Dumbledore, and Ollivander together.

He cackled excitedly looking at him.

Altair looked around. This room was full of wands, from floor to ceiling. As he looked, he saw several boxes vibrating.

“Come, come, let me measure.” He looked at Lucius for confirmation and he nodded. A tape measure quickly flowed over his arms before the man nodded. He looked at Lucius, holding out a clawed hand, palm up. “May I?”

“Ask him,” Lucius countered. The man looked down at him.

“Touch your finger to my palm, if you will.” He once again looked at Lucius who nodded. He did so and the man closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. His eyes immediately snapped opened as he ripped his hand away. “oh. _Ohh,”_ he breathed, eyelids fluttering. _“_ Very curious. Hmm, let’s see. This is going to take a while.”

Lucius joined Altair’s side at the counter and watched the man with narrowed eyes. Before Altair was to touch any, Lucius would inspect it before allowing Altair.

None of these wands were like any he had ever seen before. They were different. That was the only way to explain it. Some of them, the way the wood looked different depending on the angle held.

Others, it changed shape while being held.

And they _felt_ different. In his hand, he could feel the power of them, not like his or Harry’s.

When he brought this up, both adults looked at him in surprise.

“Oh? You can feel them, truly?”

“yeah? Is that not…normal?” He suddenly was reminded of just how much of a freak he really was.

“Well, not really. It takes a very powerful person to sense the core of a wand like that. It’s quite extraordinary. Perhaps you should look into wand making in the future.” He looked up at Lucius who rolled his eyes.

“Ignore him. He is simply too excitable. Hurry along now, find my son a wand.” Again, a large smile broke across Altair’s face. He would never tire of that. Someone fondly claiming him as family.

Another several hours passed. The man was leaning over the counter, overgrown fingernails tapping against his temple as he pouted.

“Well, it certainly cannot hurt to ask. Boy, is there any area of the store that you feel a particular surge of power from?” Altair shrugged.

“It’s not like that.”

“Have you ever tried?” he shook his head slowly. “Give it a shot. If it works, hey! Congratulations. If not, oh well, nothing changes.” Altair shrugged and then nodded. He looked around, eyes running over stacks upon stacks of wand boxes. He concentrated, feeling a little more than he had been in a long time. Probably having something to do with the fact that his magic _was stronger_ than it had been.

When concentrating, he found that, _yes,_ he moved so he could see into the back shelves, and pointed.

“That general direction.”

“Ah, that narrows it down to about two thousand wands. Let’s see here, I may have one…” His voice trailed off as he walked into the expanse of the overwhelming back storage. Altair moved back to Lucius' side.

“So…it’s not normal to feel magic around?”

“It is, but it usually takes a lot of training and practice,” He said and looked him in the eyes. “I can only guess what you’re thinking, but I can assure you, there is nothing wrong with you. You are simply a very gifted wizard.”

“I just want to be _normal.”_ His eyes filled with tears and he groaned, slamming his palms against them. “Couldn’t be a normal kid, couldn’t have a normal family, can’t have a normal life as a Slytherin, I speak to _snakes,_ I couldn’t even just _exist_ right. I’m not in the right fucking body, and I hate it! Why can’t I just be normal.”

“Hey, hey!” Lucius knelt in front of him, hands on his shoulders. He glared at him through blurry eyes, trying to stop the sting of tears. “It’s not your fault. None of what you just said. Yes, you had a right awful childhood and I will gladly punish all those responsible. But _you,_ you, Altair Malfoy. You are fantastic. No one is normal. There is no such thing. Everyone is unique. And you know, you are _amazing._ I have known you for a short amount of time, and you are _amazing._ And you are family.” Altair furrowed his brows, thinking over his words. He opted to give Lucius a hug, wanting to believe his words, but…he couldn’t.

He didn’t feel like he deserved that. Felt like he must have somehow tricked him into thinking that. Cause he certainly didn’t feel like any of what he just said. He wiped his eyes when he stepped back and Lucius returned to standing just as the man returned, a mad smile on his face, his crazed eyes wide.

“I think I have some promising ones here.” Once Lucius inspected it, he picked one up, and felt the wand shake in his hand, and immediately dropped it before a large beam of light exploded from it. The man grimaced.

“Or not… go on, there’s three more here.” Each one was…not good, they each reacted to him violently. The man tapped a sharp nail against his chin in quick succession before nodded to himself, once again leaving muttering to himself.

“How’d you know about this place?”

“I hope you never have to know that reason.” Altair furrowed his brow and nudged his foot with his own. Lucius’ faraway look disappeared, and he blinked, turning to look at him.

“It’s true then. The…” he tapped his own forearm and Lucius took a deep breath, lips parting. The man returned at the moment and Lucius cleared his throat looking down at a wand, before nodding to Altair. He picked it up and the man immediately plucked it from his fingers. After spending two days in wand shops all day, he was well familiar with it. Especially since they’d been here at the third one for a long time as well.

“You are a very difficult one, Master Malfoy. Hmm. Let’s see something.” He swept the entire stack he brought that time and deposited them on the floor and came back with two boxes that…were…locked?

Lucius seemed to have similar apprehension.

“Oh, quit your worrying, Lucius. I have no need to curse the young boy. They’re locked so as to not…misplace them.”

“They’d disappear?”

“They have tempers. Now, let’s see here.” He tapped the first box and the lock opened. Immediately, Altair could feel the magic coming from it increase tenfold. The man opened it for Lucius to examine and then Altair picked it up. It hummed in his hand; he felt the magic around it seeping into him. 

The man hummed, but Altair paid no attention to him, looking at the strange wand. It looked ordinary for the most part—as in the wood wasn’t moving, but it was obviously very different. The wand had two different colored woods woven together to create it. Something he had never seen before. And by the face Lucius made at it when he saw it first, it was clear he hadn’t either.

The wand thrummed in his grip, and he tightened his hold. It heated up, not unbearable but not comfortable either. “It’s Alder and Cypress woods, ten inches, quite springy, three cores. Quite the accomplishment, binding dem dere woods. Woods at all. Too bad cain’t boast about it.” Lucius grunted at the man. Altair turned the wand in his hand, looking at the carving on the handle. Nothing had happened, nothing at all. Not even when he gave it a swish.

He just felt the thrumming of magic in his hand.

“Alrighty, well. Let’s see the next one, hmm? We’ll set this one aside just in case it decides it wants to pick you if we can’t find nothin’ else.” He handed the wand back and the man immediately hissed, dropping it. It flew back into its box and the top snapped shut, lock clicking into place.

Altair’s eyebrows hit his hairline.

“Uhh, like I said. It’s got a temper. Now, this one.” This one was _beautiful._ That was his first thought when the man opened the case. Something he’d become familiar with recently, was that some wands had different wood for their handles, supposedly the handle representing the heart of the wielder and the body the appearance of a wizard, but he thought that was a load of rubbish. It just looked cool.

This one had a deep black handle (though it simply looked colored—not a different wood seeing as it gently faded up), three different colors sealed together beautifully as the body. The handle seemed to have carvings on it.

“Altair.” He blinked, dragging his gaze to look up at Lucius. “Go on.” He snapped his head back to the wand and nodded. He reached out, feeling it even before he grabbed it. He took it, and immediately closed his eyes.

It felt like holding a thunderstorm on a cool autumn day, struggling to stand against the wind whipping by.

He opened his eyes and looked at it, cradling it gently in his hand. It pulsed with his magic, and he swallowed hard.

“Ooh, very interesting. Go on young lad, give it a swish.” He raised the wand and gave a swish. Immediately, the stack in front of him was scattered, the wand emitting a soft shower of silver sparks. The room feeling with the very feeling of his one happy memory from before Hogwarts, the thunderstorm on the cool autumn day, wind whipping across him.

Freedom.

He looked at Lucius with wide eyes, a smile on his face.

“Congratulations, I do believe you have just been picked. Twelve inches, with Acacia, Aspen, and Vine woods, all perfectly interwoven, as if one. Rigid. Now, the rather impressive bit is the cores. All three extremely rare. One comes from a basilisk, another is horned serpent horn, and the other is Thestral tail hair. This wand…it’s a miracle really. The fact that it has more than one wood—well it should be impossible. It was until as of late when—”

“We do not need to hear the story of you fail as a wandmaker, Remington, is anything you’re about to say _useful?”_ Ah, so he did have a name. _Remington_ scowled at Lucius and nodded, holding the box out for Altair to place it back in. He hesitated and Lucius nodded encouragingly. “We’ll take it right back out once back at home.” He nodded and put the wand in the box, immediately missing the sensation of it in his hand.

When Remington closed the box, however, the box soared into his hand, and he coughed, it hitting his stomach. Remington cackled, clapping his hands in quick succession.

“Oh! It loves you. But yes, as I was saying. Acacia wood is usually for more subtle magic, ooh I see you like that,” At subtle, a smirk had formed on his face. He blushed, ducking his head. “Ah, no need to be embarrassed boy, it’s a quite nice trait. Those wands also often refuse to do magic for anyone other than its owner. Aspen wood is almost always held by expert duelers and that has a rather intriguing history to it, and vine wood often goes to those who keep their cards close to their chest. If you saw, when you came in, some of the wands reacted to you.

“Those would be some vine woods. They tend to react to possible matches. With these combination, who knows what this one will do. Without a doubt, you’ll be a sneak duelist, and your wand loyal to you. I’ll let you do your own research on the cores. I’m sure if I keep you here much longer, your wife will personally come hex me, regardless if she knows where I am or not.” Lucius grumpily paid and then steered Altair out.

He walked happily beside him as they left the shop, even as they were plunged into darkness. The wand in his hand which had unspoken promises of freedom was safely in a box that he clutched in his hands.


	10. Chapter 10

Returning to the Malfoy Manor, Dobby had immediately told them to go eat and that Narcissa and Draco were running errands and would return shortly. With amusement, they did, Altair placing his wand next to him on the table. When they finished, they were greeted by Narcissa who gave them quick hugs.

“Well, did you find one?” Draco asked when he came into the room. Lucius and Altair exchange looks and when the former nodded, Altair did too, a bright smile on his face.

“Yes! It’s so cool, here! Look.” He dove back into his seat, and snatching the box. He opened it and he heard Narcissa suck in a breath while Draco cooed.

“That’s quite marvelous. I’ve never seen a wand even similar to that. Have you, mother?” Both boys turned to Narcissa. She gave a small shake of her head.

“It’s a new technique Draco. And as a result, we’ll need to put a glamour on it while you’re at Hogwarts, Altair.” He furrowed his brows but nodded. Considering where he got it, he was pretty sure he got the picture.

“It is still a beautiful wand, Altair.” He smiled up at the blond. Narcissa handed him a wrapped package. He quirked a brow.

“It’s for your other wand. I’m sure it holds a very special place in your heart, and this is a stand for it.” He opened it up, and it indeed was. Pristine silver with swirls carved into the metal, it was a stand that curved up at the ends so only thin tendrils curled up to form small grooves fit for a wand. He nodded.

Later on, he put it proudly on the desk, having his first wand on display. It felt right.

They did end up going to France for a week, after getting their supplies for school, and then the summer passed too quickly. Almost every day the others were coming over or Draco and Altair were leaving the manor, quidditch becoming pretty much a daily thing. And even though his muscles protested, Altair very much enjoyed it.

Blaise was trying to convince him to join Slytherin team, but really, he wasn’t that good. And then Draco caught the conversation one day and immediately agreed that he should at least _try._

Altair went with them to drop Draco off at the train, but he himself wasn’t going on the train. He and Lucius were going to floo there shortly before the train arrived at Hogwarts to talk to the Headmaster about the fact that he was not a girl and should not be sharing rooms with them.

Which, of course, the magic wouldn’t let him into the hall, but he’d rather not run into the sliding stairs. So, after dropping Draco off, Altair still had several hours left in the Malfoy manor and used it to walk around, smiling softly.

This place had given him the only enjoyable summer of his life, even if it started off in hell. He now had _a family._

What else mattered? They accepted him.

And he knew more about himself! The fact that he was a _he_ one of the many. He had a cool wand, much stronger magic than he thought he could have. And he knew he was adopted. Err… by the Potters.

But he’d also been adopted by the Malfoys and he _loved_ it. No one could try to take him from one of the only good things in his life. The other being magic, but aye, they couldn’t take that.

When it was getting closer to time to floo, and he was really nervous, Lucius sat him down on a couch in the library and hummed an old song, one that Altair was familiar with by now. Lucius often hummed-or sang-it when Altair was either having a panic attack or had woken from night terrors. They calmed him down quite a bit. It was old, and French, passed down through his family.

He took a deep breath, joining in the humming after a while. When he calmed down enough, he stopped and looked up. Lucius smiled, patting his head, mussing up his hair receiving an indignant ‘ _oi!’_

“Your wand? I need to glamour it.” He nodded and pulled out his wand. He kept it in his hands though. Remington had not exaggerated; it was temperamental. And that was putting it _lightly._

“How would you like it to appear?” Altair shrugged, because how it looked was how it should look. “Alright, how about this.” Lucius gave a wave of his wand, and his shimmered before looking like his old one, only darker, and with its actual handle still showing. “Is that satisfactory?” Altair nodded: it appeared as a mix between the two.

“Now, understand me here, if Albus says _one thing_ about you, I will pull you from Hogwarts and put you somewhere that deserves you.” He understood. Lucius had offered many times to just take him out anyway, since Dumbledore had sent him back to hell twice, but Altair _liked_ Hogwarts. It was the first place he felt like he was at home. The place where he learned about magic.

Of course, he learned a ton about it here at the manor, from the people who gave him a family, but that didn’t change how he felt about Hogwarts. He wasn’t going to let Dumbledore chase him out. The old git would get what was coming for him sooner or later.

The two of them hugged before Altair grabbed his trunk and flooed to Dumbledore’s office where they had a meeting schedule.

As his head of house, Snape was there as well. The three of them exchanged tense pleasantries before Lucius got them down to business. Dumbledore tried to brush it off as teenage confusion which had Lucius tense and ready to hex him when Snape snapped at the headmaster.

“We don’t have room to add _him_ to third-year dormitories,” Albus said, eyes twinkling. At that moment the door opened Draco falling in, McGonagall behind him.

“We can extend one of the rooms no problem, Albus,” Snape drawled.

“You can do ours! Brighton is transferring after the winter holidays anyway and then we can return the room to normal and Altair can just take his bed.”

“Very well, that is what we shall do. Both of you, to the feast. The rooming arrangements will be done by the time you retire for the night,” Snape dismissed them, and after telling Lucius goodbye, the boys ran down the stairs and to the great hall.

Altair’s blood was boiling at the old man’s insinuations, but he’d have to calm it. No doubt there would be a lot of objects of his rage this year.

Sure enough, once sitting at Slytherin table, several people sent him judgmental looks, and, funnily enough, most came from muggleborns and half-bloods.

“I take it the wizarding world knows that I changed my pronouns?” He said quietly and Blaise nodded.

“Skeeter wrote about it. Was in today’s issue.” Altair rolled his eyes. It was fine, he’d be telling people anyway, but still. That’s just messed up.

Dumbledore introduced the new defense professor and the fact that Hagrid was the new Care of Magical Creatures professor. Along with him talking about Sirius Black’s escape and the fact that dementors were positioned around the school.

With Lucius at the ministry, Draco and Altair had a warning about that, but if anyone asked, they were as shocked as everyone else.

When going to the common room, Altair excitedly walked next to Draco who smirked at him. Going to their room was exciting. He felt accepted. They walked into the room, and it was indeed larger. Six beds instead of the usual five, and his stuff was proudly at one of them.

This was who he was.

The next day at breakfast, Altair was chuckling with the other Slytherins as Draco put on a reenactment of Harry fainting cause of the dementors. Which of course, several people surrounded him, telling him off about his ‘brother’.

Just when he was about to throw caution to the wind and hex them, Draco not so subtly reminded everyone that his parents blood adopted Altair over the summer. He gave him a small wink when everyone dispersed from him.

Getting their schedules was nothing of importance, his electives were Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Divination. Draco had wondered why he had taken three when he only needed taking two, and why he hadn’t chosen the easy class, and when he responded that he actually wanted to learn something, Lucius lightly flicked Draco on the head and said he could learn from Altair.

It had been a rather entertaining exchange.

The first day of classes passed slowly, up until his Divination class was interrupted by Trelawney telling him his brother was injured. Shortly after that, McGonagall came in to inform him quietly that Draco was in the hospital wing. He had spluttered, and followed after her to the wing. And despite her assuring him that Draco was _fine,_ he couldn’t stop until he got in there. Draco was sitting up in one of the beds, arm in a sling, scowling at the foot of the bed.

“Draco, what happened?” He demanded, walking closer to the bed, McGonagall talking to Pomfrey before leaving. Draco sneered.

“That oaf had dangerous creatures in class! It attacked me! Father will have his job for sure.” Altair raised his brows, hand lifting to poke at his hand.

“What was it?”

“hmm?”

“The creature—what was it?”

“A hippo- uh, hipporit?”

“Hippogriff?” He altered and Draco nodded. “So, what’d you do?” Immediately Draco gawked.

“Me? I was _attacked.”_

“Draco, they don’t attack unless provoked.”

“Well, take your _brother’s_ side why don’t you.” Immediately, Altair scowled, standing from his seat.

“ _You_ are my brother, you arse. Unless the injury affected your brain too, you’d do well to remember that.” He turned, stalking out of the infirmary and throwing a sarcastic “have fun,” over his shoulder.

He seethed the entire way to his room, and was glad to see someone brought his stuff down from Divination.

The _audacity_ of Draco to even imply that. He’d made it fantastically clear that he’d never viewed Harry as a brother to him. And he was under the impression that Draco was accepting of him into his family. Guess he was wrong.

It’s fine, Slytherins all lied for their own reasons.

But Altair wouldn’t let Draco just run over his views of family. Even if he didn’t think of him as a brother, he was still accepted into the family, _that_ he knew.

When Draco returned to classes in double potions, Altair promptly ignored him. Completely. Even when he frowned and reached out, he twirled his knife in his hand before loudly slamming it down. Draco jumped, furrowed his brow, but nodded and went back to making Weasley cut his stuff.

Altair made a perfect potion, getting five points. And watched with a furrow in his brow as Snape tormented Longbottom and dropped the potion on his frog. When class was dismissed, he left quickly.

He ignored Draco for days, turning away from him in his bed at night, leaving before he woke. All until he cornered him one day in the halls in the dungeon.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he muttered and went to shove past him, but Draco caught him by the shoulders and stared into his eyes.

“Tell me.”

“Draco, you’re my _brother now._ At least to me. I’ve told you countless times over the past two years that Harry has never been my brother. And when I went to you because you were in the _infirmary,_ and you threw the fact that I’ve always known in my face. I’m unwanted everywhere.” He blinked hard, stopping the tears before they could form. “I know that. But doesn’t mean that I have to like that.” He looked away and tried to move again but was suddenly crushed against Draco’s chest, one hand on the back of his head keeping him close.

“I didn’t- Merlin, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. You’re family. You are. And you’re wanted. _Bloody hell,_ Altair. I just reacted how I’m used to. I’m sorry.” Altair sighed, wrapping his arms around him tightly, the two of them collapsing into a heap on the floor. “You’re my brother.” That was the final straw, Altair sobbed, holding tightly onto him. Draco clutched him just as close.

No idea how long they were there before they heard footsteps and someone clearing their throat. They both looked up with wide teary eyes at Professor Snape who looked at them both before tilting his head towards his classroom.

“Come.” Draco and Altair shared a look before following after him. In his classroom, he motioned for them to sit at the station closest to his desk. They did so. He stood in front of them, arms behind his back.

“Have you two settled whatever dispute?”

“Yes, Uncle,” Draco said. Snape turned to Altair with a raised brow. He quickly nodded.

“Yep. Dispute settled.”

“Good. Your parents were driving me mad with letters. Drink.” Tea appeared before them and they did so, sitting quietly. Altair had grown familiar to the man’s presence over the summer, seeing as he’s Draco’s godfather, and interactions like this were not that uncommon.

Only after the both of them finished their tea did he allow them to leave, not before reminding them to not use his halls as therapy. They both cracked a smirk at him and nodded, leaving.


	11. Chapter 11

The first time Altair stepped foot into Defense class, none of his class was particularly excited. They’d heard about the whole Snape in dress fiasco. Everyone had.

Altair sat, looking up towards the lanky professor. He greeted the class with a smile, looking over the room.

“Welcome, it’s lovely to meet you all. I’m sure you’ve all heard about the boggart from the Gryffindor class. Unfortunately, I don’t have another one at the moment, but if you’d like I can see about acquiring another one. No, today” His eyes found Altair’s, and the glass he was holding slipped out of his hand and shattered on the floor, causing the class of Slytherins to laugh.

He blinked hard and tore his gaze off Altair and waved his wand, the glass repairing and returning to his hand.

“Well, not a great first impression. I dare say I’m usually less clumsy.” His voice was a lot less certain now, and he turned away from the class, the glass being put on his desk. “uhh, right! Today we’ll be taking a trip to the Black Lake. You all communicate with the mercreatures, right?” there were a few nods. “Fantastic! Let’s go.”

“What about the dementors?” Altair asked, drawing attention to him, and then everyone looked at the Professor who had turned back around, much paler than he had been previously.

“You’ll all be fine. If any gets too close, I will show you a charm to combat that before returning you all here. If you’d all rather stay in though…I’m sure I can find a good chapter for us to start reading.” At once all the students were standing. He smiled. “Great, let’s go.”

Draco didn’t leave his side as they ventured out of the castle and closed in on the lake. The professor instructed them to sit. They did so, looking up at him. Altair was on the far end, preferring not to be in the middle of all of the kids, and trying hard to not focus on the cold dark magic he could faintly feel in the air.

He’d never felt it before but knew at once it was the dementors.

“Right! So, there’s a giant squid in this lake as you all well know. Now, this squid is not even remotely a threat and is quite helpful. There are things in here that would be a threat, but they are deep down, even further than your common room. Now, if for some reason, there are some charms that could…”

And so, they had a lesson outside and as everyone was packing up notes, Altair suddenly felt a spike of warm magic from his left and turned his to look. His eyes trailed the edge of the forest, but he saw nothing, but he could _feel_ magic pushing against him. Looking around, making sure no one was watching, he got his wand into his hand and pushed back against whatever it was.

The magic left him, and he sighed, turning and joining Draco.

When October came around, Draco, Blaise, and Theo were all pestering him to try out for the quidditch team. Even in one of the (now expected. The first one nearly made him cry) weekly letters from Narcissa and Lucius they had encouraged him to give it a shot.

So, he did.

And he got on the team!

When he wrote Lucius and Narcissa (still dazed that someone wanted him to write to them) they responded in kind, encouraging words.

After the Halloween feast, Altair was laying with his head on Draco’s lap, trying to explain the latest potion to him in the common room when everyone went silent. Altair turned to see Professor Snape with a grim look on his face.

“Everyone report to the Great Hall, immediately,” he drawled, dark eyes scanning over the faces in the room. “Do not stray. Go quickly, but do not run. Now.”

Everyone did as told, though that didn’t stop them from conversing about what could possibly be happening. Dumbledore announced that they were going to search the castle and that everyone was to sleep there. Purple sleeping bags took the places of the tables.

Draco and Altair pulled some over to where the rest of their group was, and everyone was immediately staring at him.

“What?”

“Shouldn’t you be nervous?”

“Why would I be?” He asked, narrowing his eyes on Crabbe. The group exchanged tense looks but Draco rolled his eyes.

“Black is the one who sold out the Potters to the Dark Lord. Everyone thinks that he’s coming to finish what he started.”

“To…kill Harry?” he nodded, shrugging.

“Makes sense, doesn’t it? Man spent twelve years in Azkaban. I’d want to finish my business as well.”

“But that includes him!” Pansy said and Draco shook his head. Altair furrowed his brow.

“I don’t think so. He’s not the Potters’ kid. He was only there.” He and Draco exchanged a look. So, they weren’t telling people he was blood adopted by the Potters, but that he wasn’t their kid was alright.

“Really?” Theo asked shuffling closer.

“He might not care. It’s a wonder he was sane enough to get in here. All that time in Azkaban.” Blaise shivered, and the rest didn’t look too peachy either.

“Tell me about it? I don’t know much,” Altair offered. Something about this felt…off. He wanted to know all the facts he possibly could. Draco opened his mouth but then Weasley called out and told everyone to sleep and all the candles went out. Altair grumbled, along with his group, but they all clambered into their sleeping bags in their circle.

The next days consisted of talk of all about Sirius Black and the more he heard about it, the more something seemed not right to him. He had no reason to believe anything else. It was just a gut feeling.

His first match was coming up and he was simultaneously excited and nervous…until Flint said he switched with Hufflepuff. He spent the rest of the day sulking despite Draco telling him that it was alright.

“No! I wanted to play.”

“You’ll play soon, it’s okay.”

“Would you think it was okay if _your_ first match was postponed?” When he stayed silent, he nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

The day that Snape taught Defense _everyone_ hated it. “Werewolves! What the bloody hell has gotten into my uncle? Clearly, that was way ahead of our current area,” Malfoy groaned, faceplanting into a couch in the common room. Altair nodded, sitting on the floor near the chair.

“ _Two rolls._ Bloody hell! He’s never been like this with Slytherins. What does he have against Lupin so bad to take it out against us?” Blaise complained, sinking into a chair.

“I don’t know but it better be a damned good one,” Draco muttered, face still in the cushion.

The next Monday, Lupin looked at his essays with a small frown on his face before beginning class, with a little less enthusiasm than normal. At the end, he asked Altair to stay back. Draco stood by his side while everyone filtered out.

“My brother’s done nothing.” Altair gave Draco a small smile.

“Oh, it’s nothing wrong, Draco. I just would like to discuss something with him.” Lupin gave a small smile and Altair knocked his shoulder with his own.

“Go on, I’ll catch up.” Draco looked at him for a moment before nodding. He gave Lupin a glare before leaving. As soon as the doors closed, Lupin sighed, leaning back against a desk, looking like he was about two steps away from falling over.

“Err…are you alright?”

“hmm? Oh, yes. I’m still recovering.” Altair wasn’t convinced but nodded. He was standing next to the desk he usually sat at, Lupin leaning against one row in front of him. It was the closest he’d been to him, and the magic he felt coming off him was soft, warm. He cleared his throat, shaking his head.

“You wanted to speak with me?”

“I’m sure you’re aware of the dementor attack on the quidditch pitch?” He nodded. “Do you know about the reason that Si- Black is on campus?”

“Apparently to finish what he was started and to kill Potter.” Lupin flinched.

“I don’t want to pry, but your name is Potter Malfoy—”

“If you don’t want to pry, then don’t. Yes, that’s my name.” Lupin chuckled, shaking his head.

“I just mean, that maybe you’re not safe from him, either.”

“But I’m not their kid.” He blinked, staring at him dumbly.

“Pardon?” His voice was a couple of octaves higher.

“I’m not a Potter. I was blood adopted by them, confirmed by Gringotts. If Black’s issue was with the Potters then it doesn’t include me.” Lupin looked like he’d been stupefy-ed, and was staring wide-eyed at him. “I can handle myself, though, professor. I’d ask about the uh _incident_ at the end of last year if you are actually concerned about my wellbeing. Good day.” With that, he turned on his heel and left.

But the hope that had filtered into Lupin’s eyes for a moment when he said that he wasn’t a Potter was eating at him, and he was going to find out why.

The weeks passed quickly, between classes and practice, Altair was exhausted, but he did manage to find out that Lupin went to school at the same time as the Potters and was also a Gryffindor. With a cleverly worded letter to Narcissa, he managed to find out that Lupin, Black, Potter, and Pettigrew (someone else Black killed) were all best mates. It didn’t really set right.

There were still pieces _missing._

And after a…ahem, _overhearing_ the Weasley twins going on about something they gave Harry. Well, it’d be a crime if Altair _didn’t_ investigate.

Cause honestly, he and the twins got along quite well in his first year.

And if they gave Harry something, it was _good._

So, after a couple of days looking at different spells and charms, he found a partial invisibility charm—one that allowed the cast to believe he was invisible, but it worked as a wall, so anyone on the other side of it could see him.

He took the risk.

And found a _piece of parchment_.

But when he was about ready to scream about Harry hiding a piece of parchment, he touched it. And oh boy, did it have magic.

It was drumming with it, and so he snatched it up, and sneakily left the Gryffindor dorms and then bolted. He was trying to think of a quiet place to investigate it when he quite literally ran into Professor Lupin.

He gasped, Lupin’s magic overwhelming him was the scent of chocolate, a warm summer’s day, the smell of the country.

He shook his head and gasped, looking up from where he was on the floor. Lupin was getting to his feet and gave him a small smile, offering him a hand. Altair refused it, not wanting to touch him again.

His magic was telling him things he didn’t understand and once was enough to confuse him for the next while. He saw the brief look of concern wash over Lupin’s face but it was alright.

“Sorry, sir, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“I see that. Where are you off to in such a rush?” Altair blanked.

“err. The loo?” Remus quirked a brow, scar moving with it.

“Right. Well. Then you don’t need to know that Filch is back that way.” Altair’s eyes brightened a bit, but he shook his head, a small smirk on his face.

“Nope, no need to know that.” He nodded. Altair nodded, turning to walk in a different direction. “Right, thanks, professor.”

“Watch where you’re going next time you want to run through the halls.” Altair nodded and then made his way down the stairs. While going through one corridor, magic parchment in his pocket, the dreams from the previous year hit the forefront of his mind. He stumbled to a halt and then, even though his brain was screaming at him not to step foot in a place marked ‘girls’ he made his way to that bathroom.

He looked at the sink with barely hidden disdain. There was no way those dreams had _actually_ pointed him to the chamber…right?

He took a deep breath and then exhaled in Parseltongue “ _Open.”_

And it bloody-fucking-did.

Altair stared wide-eyed at the tunnel and then shrugged, whispering a cleaning spell before shooting down it.

Stumbling down the bottom, he kept going and opened the next one as well. He dropped to his knees in the main chamber, some emotion hitting hard in his chest at the remains of the giant majestic basilisk.

His wand thrummed unhappily, and he pursed his lips.

Guess his wand was also not appreciating its demise.

He’d research how respectively deal with that later. He picked himself up and looked around. The chamber looked like it had once been magnificent. An extension of Slytherin.

If only…

He shook his head. He was here for the parchment. He took it out of his pocket and unfolded it carefully onto the floor after he cleared it with a small swoosh of his wand.

No one had been joking. He’d learned his magic was _very_ different from before. And this wand responded well.

He looked at it and spelled a silent ‘ _revelio’._

Ink spread out and Altair felt heat in case his shoulders as he read it.

_Mr. Moony suggests the young one keep to himself._

_Mr. Prongs would like to agree and that his Black eyes should stray elsewhere._

_Mr. Padfoot rather thinks the young lad is downright mad with ignorance._

_Mr. Wormtail wishes him a nice day and to quickly rid himself of that horrifically ugly face._

What the bloody hell?

He flattened his hand against the parchment and _pushed._

He watched as ink spread out. At the bottom, signed by Moony, Prongs, Padfoot, and Wormtail. Enraptured, he watched as a map spread out, detailing the school, hidden passages, and little dots with names.

His wasn’t on there, and neither was the Chamber.

Whoever had made this didn’t know of it, but certainly knew of others. He looked over it.

This was fascinating. He took out a spare bit of parchment, and ran his hand over it.

“Okay, let’s see if this works.” He closed his eyes, tightly gripping his wand. He focused on the magic of the map and pulled, willing it to duplicate.

Nothing happened.

He tried it several times, feeling like an idiot each time before he sighed, deciding to do it one last time. This time, he concentrated more on the magic and felt four distinct magical forces, each having made several imprints. He concentrated on those.

He felt the magic wash over him, tasted the words of spells he’d never heard, felt the excitement of the first activation, and saw remnants of waving wands in a late-night dorm, lit only by candlelight—

He gasped falling backwards. His wand immediately flew back to his hand, and he clutched it tightly. Words echoed in his skull, in a voice he didn’t recognize. He scrambled up and looked. It…kinda worked.

Parts were missing, no dots were moving, but he could feel a light thrum of charms. Not nearly as many as the original, but it was a place to start.

“Mischief managed.” The maps disappeared. He raised his brows. Okay, maybe that was something he should tell Lucius about once back at the Manor.

He gathered the maps, and hurried to returned the original back to the Gryffindor dorms before returning to his, and falling face-first into his bed. He was _exhausted._

He dreamed of four Gryffindors laughing and joking around parchment and books, surrounded in a pillow fort. One of them looking eerily like a certain professor.

Returning to the manor was fantastic. At the station, Altair had greeted Lucius and Narcissa with big hugs, much to the horror of some other parents at the station. Back at the Manor, the place was festive for Yule.

This was the first time he’d left Hogwarts during the winter and it was strange but not unwanted. He contemplated telling Lucius of how he copied some charms and had dreamed of people he’d never met, but figured it’d be best to have more facts. Afterall, he might just be crazy.

Waking up to Christmas to having _presents_ well, now, he cried. He definitely cried.

They had a yule ball, and the days leading up to it, he and Draco had lessons. Altair obviously had more trouble, having never done it before, but he picked it up well.

He had a moving picture of him, Draco, Theo, and Blaise all in wizard dress robes, bowing deeply, arms wrapped over each other’s shoulders, mid-laugh as they looked up exchanging glances. They had taken a more upbeat song to throw tradition out of the window, the four of them dancing like madmen with each other before ending with a bow.

They each had a copy.

Lucius had laughed, rounding them up for a toast that he was giving. Had thoroughly embarrassed Altair by bringing attention to him as his new son, and then the rest of the night was filled with dancing and the three of them refusing to help Draco avoid Pansy who was trying to latch onto him constantly.

In the summer, Lucius and Narcissa had sat him down to ask him some personal questions, the main one being if he wanted to transition more than just his name. He had said he’d think about it. He had owled them in earlier November to say yes, he did.

One of his Christmas presents was Muggle testosterone patches.

“The muggle doctors don’t typically give this to anyone under sixteen, but they can. We had Severus help us get these.” He had hugged them. He was informed he’d be going to Madame Pomfrey while using them, to make sure they were evening out well, and if they needed to be adjusted she and Severus would take care of it.

So, when he returned to Hogwarts, he had a patch on his stomach, and loads more enthusiasm than he was used to.


	12. Chapter 12

Two weeks after returning to school, it was finally time for Altair’s first quidditch match. Lucius was in the stands, and that was not helping his nerves whatsoever.

“hey,” he turned to see Draco give him a small smile. “it’ll be alright. You’re a good player.” He gave Draco a thankful look but when Flint clapped and said it was time, he felt all color leave his face. His heart was thrumming in his chest and he rubbed his hands against his legs, trying to get them to stop sweating.

But as soon as he was soaring through the air, all nervousness faded away. He scored two goals in the first five minutes.

He flew past his house and many of them screamed, cheering his name.

It was intoxicating.

He and Cassius were a good team, mostly passing between each other until Flint got free and then it’d be with him.

The game was loud, the cheers echoing in his ears as he soared across the pitch, once turning his broom upside down to avoid getting hit by a bludger and laughed when he heard McGonagall’s cry of distress when he did so.

They won by a landslide and his team lined up to do a victory lap before landing, everyone being swept into a sweaty group hug.

“We did it!” He laughed joyfully, head thrown back.

“Good job, Malfoy. We’ll make you a pro, yet.” Cassius smirked at him and he chuckled, rolling his eyes. “Oi! Speaking of pro Malfoys.” He nodded behind the two boys to see Lucius standing there, a smirk on his face as he leaned on his cane. Both Draco and Altair went over to him. He poked their shoes with his cane.

“You’re filthy.”

“We won!” He chuckled and opened his arms. Both boys flocked to him, Draco because Altair pulled him. Draco groaned and whined about public imaged but hugged Lucius just as tight.

“I knew you’d two do well. Now, how about a celebration, hmm?” they couldn’t leave the grounds, so Lucius had them have a feast at a transfigured table at the pitch. They ate quickly, the whole team laughing and joking, a couple of parents that chose to stick around joining in.

It was a good day.

Three weeks later, however, had Altair glaring down at Draco as he stared at the ground.

“What were you thinking?”

“Please, I’m going to be yelled at by father enough.”

“You dressed as dementors!”

“I know. I also know father is going to yell as well.”

“Then why’d you do it?” Altair asked, exasperated flopping to sit next to Draco on the bed.

“…he was awful to you, wasn’t he?” Altair froze, brows furrowed as Draco slowly lifted his head to look at him. “You don’t talk about your muggles, but it had to be something bad for you to react to things the way you do. For you to have been removed immediately. And you’ve always disowned him. And you’ve never asked if he was removed as well. He was a part of it.”

“…Not _directly_.” He winced when his voice broke.

“I’m not going to ask you to tell me what happened, but if you ever _do_ want to, I’ll listen. But this…Potter is always acting like he’s better than everyone else. And he gets praised for it! By everyone other than Uncle Sev. Bloody hell, he murdered a teacher in first year and got _sixty_ house points for it! I don’t give a bloody damned thing if he was trying to steal something, Potter still killed him. And to yell at you last year and ask you for favors… why does he get praised for every damned thing he does?” Draco’s eyes got glassy.

“The dementors are the _one_ thing I have against him. Just the one. And he cares too much about quidditch. So, I figured that maybe we could just use it. To show him he can’t get away with everything. Admittedly, it was Flint’s idea to distract him. I just told them how.” Altair sighed, shaking his head

He wrapped an arm around Draco’s shoulder and pulled him to him, letting his head drop on his shoulder. He put his chin on the top of the blond hair.

“He will get what’s coming to him. One day. But you could have gotten suspended, kicked from the _team,”_ he felt Draco flinch in his arms. “Look, don’t you want to win the house cup?”

“’Course I do.”

“Then stop acting like a bloody Gryffindor!” Draco pulled from his arm to look at him like he’d just insinuated his hair was as greasy as Snape’s.

“The hell—”

“Draco. Slytherins don’t act without thinking. Stop it. Listen.” Draco scowled but sat back down, arms crossed. “You’re supposed to act from the shadows. Right? Don’t let anyone know you had a part in it. Or, if they think you did, that they have no proof. Salazar, your father speaks about it quite a bit when he speaks of work. So, calm down, earn points, and stop doing things to draw attention to yourself. Like this. Or _faking an arm injury_ for weeks.”

Draco gave a breathy laugh, scratching the back of his neck. Altair gave him a smile.

“You can be a good student; I know you can. You can’t treat every class like Snape’s. You get away with a lot in Snape’s class. Be a student in the other classes. Sound reasonable?” Draco nodded and sat back down, wrapping his arm around his shoulders.

“Thank you.”

“Of course, now, let’s get to dinner before Pansy decides she needs to send a search party for you.” Draco groaned and shook his head. Altair laughed and pulled him with him.

The next day, news spread like wildfire that Black had entered the castle again and had escaped. Again.

March went by without much trouble. Altair had taken to spending time in the library, searching up lineage spells, largescale cleaning spells, how to respectfully bury a basilisk. The last one he didn’t actually ask, just read up on them. He came up empty on that front though. The other two, he did have luck.

And after spending several days trying to convince Madame Pince to allow him to check out some older books, Snape had walked in on them arguing and assured the tyrannical librarian that her books would be returned in the same condition that Altair took them. And so, Altair left with a stack of books.

Instead of going to dinner, he told Draco he’d be studying and then slipped into the Chamber with the books.

He opened one of them and found a quick and simple cleansing spell that would serve as the beginning of the cleanup job he wanted to do. He got to work and spent over an hour making the Chamber not so icky.

Then he went about restorative spells, repairing the statues and stone sculptures before going to the back of the Chamber.

The wand pulsed in his hand as he raised it and very carefully and precisely cast the spell.

The big chunks of stone swirled, sealing together. When it was done, it was a giant statue of Salazar with a small basilisk wrapped around him. Looking closer, both at it and the base, it looked like it was a fountain.

He shucked off his robe and got to work on exploring, cleaning as he went. The place hadn’t been cleaned in a long time, and algae and grime still stuck to…well, _everywhere_ but it wasn’t transferring onto his clothes now. It would take a while to actually get the place clean.

He found another door which he opened and immediately stopped. There was magic in the room. It was thrumming, and he tasted ash, so he figured he’d leave that path alone. It seemed like trying to go through it would at the very least give him a nasty curse.

He eventually found a little path that had about a foot of water on the ground and he cast a drying spell. He followed the sound of water and found a leak and repaired it.

Going back into the main chamber, the fountain was sparkling with greenish-black water. Water from the lake. It was pretty.

He quickly gathered the books and left, making it to his room before curfew. Draco glanced at him questionably, but he simply smiled at him and went to bed.

Switching hormones was an _experience._

He was mad at everything. Or at nothing. And not to mention his pain tolerance was going down, the hell was that about anyway? He randomly broke out in sweats.

Madame Pomfrey assured him with barely concealed amusement that he was alright, nothing was wrong.

He simply rolled his eyes and stomped out of the infirmary.

He’d been taking notes on different spells and potions in his free time, trying to find a way around whatever ancient magic stopped Gringotts from telling him who his birth parents were. He wanted to know.

One weekend, he locked himself in the chamber, cauldron set out and his notes on his theories beside him.

Was this dangerous? Absolutely. One hundred percent.

He was a third-year student experimenting with spells and potions. No way it was _not_ dangerous. But he was determined and had his mind set on it. So, with a deep breath, he began brewing.

All day, he brewed the two separate potions. One of his own theory, the other one he found in a restricted section book after hours.

He laid out three pieces of parchment before pricking his finger. He added a drop to each potion and then poured them on one sheet each. Then on the third paper, after he moved a safe distance away- just in case one of the others caught fire, he dripped blood onto the paper until there was a decent sized blob.

He picked up his wand and began muttering the combination of spells, one after the other, hopefully being enough to bypass whatever it was. He slammed his eyes shut when his head started pounding. He gritted his teeth but didn’t stop.

He felt magic swirl around him, his magic, and an unfamiliar one seeping out and quickly being destroyed. It was suffocating but didn’t stop. He was close.

He gasped when he was done, looking down at his wand and carefully running his fingers over it. It truly was the best match for him.

He turned to look at the paper, watching as the blood continued forming a lineage chart. He smirked-it worked! He went over to the other two, wand poised and ready to cast a shield, but noticed they both were doing similar things.

His smirk didn’t last for long though, as his eyes actually started reading. He shook his head, reading the others. Thye all said the same thing, but it was impossible.

What the fuck.

He gathered the papers and stalked out of the Chamber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season!


	13. Chapter 13

Storming through the halls, the student body parted for Altair. He was seething, heat pumping through his veins. Disbelief, betrayal, rage, and the unpleasant sting of rejection were the few emotions he knew how to identify that swirled angrily in his chest as he thundered up the stairs.

By the way some younger years shrieked and jumped out of his way, he figured he looked like he was going to murder someone.

He hadn’t decided if he was or not yet.

He got to the door and threw it open, two wide pairs of eyes turning to him.

“Altair!” Lupin spluttered, eyes flicking wildly between him and the door.

“I need to talk to you.” Altair narrowed his eyes on the first year Ravenclaw. “ _Alone_ ,” he growled. The kid picked up her bag and ran past him. He stormed fully into the office, slamming the door behind him. Lupin raised his brows, exhaustion, and apprehension clear on his face.

“Altair, have a seat. You can tell me what’s on your mind and we can discuss it.” Altair’s jaw clenched, eye twitching.

“You want to discuss this? Fine, you can take a look at these,” He shook the papers in his hand before slamming them down on Lupin’s desk, the glass in the room shattering upon impact. “And then you fucking explain it. Explain why you abandoned me. Then maybe, _maybe_ , I will discuss it with you, you bloody bastard.” Lupin flinched, looking between Altair, the papers, and the broken glass all around him several times.

“Go ahead, look at them.” Altair nodded towards the paper. “Read them. Because you have a lot of explaining to do with the fact that your name is on my lineage papers.” Lupin paled, swaying as his hands slammed against his desk, arms shaking under the effort. “Papers that even Gringotts couldn’t give to me, which is part of what you’re going to explain to me.” Lupin looked grayish-green as he flicked his eyes between Altair’s before he surged one hand out, scooping up the papers and separating them on his desk.

“Also, why is there no mother showing up on three different spells?” If Lupin heard him, he made no acknowledgement as he kept his head bent over the papers. Altair cocked his head to the side. Lupin was shaking.

With a deep, shuddering breath, Lupin looked up and Altair took a step back, some of the fiery rage quieting out at the tears running down his anguished yet hopeful face.

“I—We thought…we were told you were dead. I—”

Altair rushed forward as he collapsed, and caught Lupin. He was shaking so bad, gasping quick breaths.

“Dead?” All rage left him, making him feel kind of dizzy from the loss of adrenaline, but he pulled Lupin to sit up. The man covered his scared face with his hand, before taking measured breaths. After a moment he swallowed and looked at Altair.

“There is no ‘mother’ listed, because I am the one that carried you. Male pregnancy potion.”

“So…”

“Yes, the spells are correct. Sirius Black is your other father.” Altair blinked stupidly at him. “Merlin,” he shuddered, more tears falling down his face as he covered his mouth. “All these years…thinking you were dead. You’re right here.” Altair shuffled, uncomfortable. He laid a hand on his shoulder.

“So…you didn’t bind my lineage or magic?” Lupin’s eyes seemed to flash for a second, going rigid under Altair’s hand.

“Someone bound your magic?” He growled and all Altair’s hair stood on end. He flinched, pulling away. “Sorry, sorry. I just…Merlin please don’t let this be a dream.”

“Would you dream that your long-lost kid was blood adopted by the Malfoys?” Altair asked, not knowing what else to do. Lupin let out a teary bark of laughter.

“Suppose not,” He chuckled wryly and shook his head, fingers curling in his hair. “I don’t understand. We were told you were dead. And then everything with the Potters and the twins—”

“No twins. Remember?” dread settled over Altair. He wasn’t getting any closer to finding out answers. Lupin’s eyes widened, jaw dropping.

“I…that’d be a very powerful memory charm. For my own child to be there and for me to not notice. Merlin!” Lupin slammed his head back, more tears falling down his face as the magic lights in the room went out, leaving them with the light from the broken windows. “How—” He shook his head and then his gaze went to Altair again.

“you’re alive. Can…Can I hug you?” Altair furrowed his brow.

“You wanted me?” Damn everything to hell, his voice broke. Lupin shuffled up to his knees, nodding.

“We tried so hard to get you here. We wanted you so much, you were everything we wanted. I loved you so much, nearly went mental when I was told you were dead. Yet, here you are. These papers,” he motioned up to the desk “they prove that. And I wish I had known. All those years ago. I wanted you every moment. There has not been a single day that I haven’t thought of—”

Altair threw himself at him, squeezing his eyes shut to stop any tears from forming past the stinging of his eyes. Lupin wrapped his arms around him, holding him close. He shook in Altair’s arms and the boy sighed, swallowing hard at the new emotions creating a crater in his chest.

Altair held his own tears back the best he could but…the amount of raw emotion on Lupin’s face as he looked at the paper, at him, it was all genuine. When he heard about the ancient magic, he assumed his birth parents had put it on him, not wanting anything to do with him, but here this guy was.

Obviously, he was missing a lot about this.

Who the hell stole him from his parents and put a memory spell on them to keep him from finding out? And why?

And despite his original theory, Lupin did want him.

So, he cried.

A long time passed before the two calmed down and Altair awkwardly moved back, wiping furiously at his tear-soaked face. Lupin dried his face too, looking off into the distance, an angry scowl twisting up his face.

“I need to go to Gringotts, get this charm removed. Maybe I know who took you and can…file legal charges.” Altair snorted at the way Lupin caught himself and told a very unconvincing lie at the end. He was sure that whatever Lupin would think of would not involve the law.

“I can help you get there. Go with, too, probably. If you’d like, of course. I don’t mean to imply I’d have to—”

“Altair, it would be fine. I only do not know how we’d go.”

“I can write to Lucius. He has a tendency to get things done.” Lupin gave a little chuckle, nodding his head.

“Yes, he does.” They both looked at each other.

“The first time you saw me in class you broke a glass. Did you know I was your kid?” He shook his head slowly. “You had suspicions?”

“Honestly, I thought you were Sirius’s child. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was one. He was rather promiscuous when he wanted to be, and that last year or so before we…uh conceived you we were on rocky terms. You look a lot like him. I had hoped, of course, that somehow, miraculously, you could have been ours. When I first saw you, I did see you and looked at you like you were my child. My heart lurched, thinking that somehow it was you.”

“I’ll write a letter to Lucius. We’ll be at Gringotts tomorrow.” He nodded, a small smile on his face. He got to his feet and then offered a hand to Altair. This time, he took it. His magic wafted over him. Now, it seemed even more potent than before.

“Uh, sorry for barging in. I was pissed, I thought you had…given me up. And wanted answers no matter what.” Lupin shook his head, waving away the apology.

“Honestly, I’m glad you did. This…this means so much.” Altair nodded awkwardly and took the papers back and shuffled to the door before pausing.

“Professor,” He called, turning to look at the man gazing at him with relief and wonder. “This changes little you know. The Malfoys are my family now.”

“I know,” He responded with a tiny nod, a heartbreakingly sad smile on his tear-stained face.

“It’s just. I don’t know you. But this summer, I’d like to if you do.” Lupin brightened and nodded enthusiastically. Altair gave one last smile before leaving. He immediately went straight to his room to get parchment, ignoring the call from Draco.

He caught up to him in the room.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just need to write to your father.” He looked up when Draco caught his wrist when he went to walk by.

“Promise me nothing is wrong?” Altair nodded, giving him a nod even as his heart felt like it was going to burst in his chest.

“Promise.” Draco stared at him and sighed.

“Something is bothering you, but I trust you. Just let me know if gets to be too much.” He nodded and left, heading towards the owlery.

_Dear Lucius,_

_I need permission to leave school grounds tomorrow with Professor Lupin. We have found something regarding the predicament that we couldn’t solve ourselves at Gringotts. Tomorrow would be ideal, the sooner the better. I don’t know how the charm works or how strong it is. Please figure something out?_

After signing it, he found Draco’s owl and sent him off. He was going down the alcove and then wandered a bit, feeling like his chest was going to explode. Emotions he couldn’t identify, have never felt before churned uncomfortably in his chest. He fell to his knees at one point, curling in on himself breathing in the cold air in quick pants even as it hurt his lungs.

Someone _stole_ him from his parents? Who the hell does that?

Why?

The look on Lupin’s face kept coming back to hit him in the face, making him curl tighter on himself, sobbing. The ache in his chest increased, even though he was full blown sobbing into his knees.

He jumped when something touched his shoulder. Through blurry eyes, he stared at the large dog. The dog nudged at his shoulder and that warm magic washed over him, but at the same time, it was cold, lonely. Broken.

The dog laid its head on his shoulder and whined.

“You’re not a normal dog,” Altair gasped, sniffling. “God, panic attacks are the worst.” The dog huffed. Altair took it as agreement. Altair looked up when cold dread started creeping up on him. “Bloody hell, dementors.” Two of them. The dog jumped up, bit his sleeve, and _tugged_. Altair nearly fell but scrambled to his knees and then feet, and then ran as the dog did. Soon, they were upon a shack and the dog burst through the door and Altair followed, slamming the door behind him and wiping out his wand. He sat against the far wall and the dog settled in front of him, growling lowly.

“Dammit, should’ve taken Lupin up on those lessons.” Searching through his knowledge, he knew exactly zero spells to fight off dementors. Fantastic. He hadn’t realized he was shaking until the dog whined and nosed against his knee. He sighed, reaching out a shaking hand to gently pet the dog’s head, matted fur tangling on his fingers.

He was about to say something when his breath came out in frozen fog. He tightened his grip on the dog and wand. They were both silent as they waited. Finally, it passed and warmed up a bit. Altair looked at the dog who now laid his head across his knees.

“You wouldn’t happen to be the grim the divination class was worried about at the start of the year, are you?” Altair snorted. The dog gave a huff. “Eh, even if you are, I’d take you over the dementors any day.” The dog shook a little. “Or the Dursleys.” Altair’s gentle smile fell, hand stopping its petting motions, even as the dog tilted his head at him.

Altair swallowed hard, trying to forget. But it was never just that simple. He looked over when the dog nudged his arm. He did it again before his snout fell under his elbow. Altair quirked a brow but lifted his elbow. At once, the dog pounced on him, settling halfway on top of him, head on his shoulder.

Altair chuckled and wrapped his arms around the dog. “Well, you’re affectionate. I was never allowed to have pets. Thought dogs were cool though. Snakes, too, but that’s because I can talk to them. You’re cute and all, but you _stink_.” The dog huffed.

“Okay, yeah, you’re homeless, or at least, I assume so, you’re very thin. Hmm. Hold on.” Altair rolled and then with a moment of clarity called, “dobby!” With a pop, the house-elf appeared, and the dog tensed.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s okay.” When the dog slightly relaxed, Altair dropped his hand and turned to Dobby who was looking at him with wide happy eyes. “I need you to bring me some blankets that won’t matter if they get messed up. And like. A bunch of food. Okay?” Dobby nodded happily and disappeared with a crack. Altair moved to pat the dog on the head.

“He’s alright. He helps. Helped me a bunch last year, well, tried to at least. But I can tell you’re familiar with this place, might as well give you a _little_ comfort.” Dobby appeared back with loads of folded blankets and a feast’s worth of food.

“Can Dobby do anything else for Master?”

“Don’t tell anyone, okay? Our little secret.” Altair winked and Dobby nodded quickly. He disappeared and Altair separated the food, mostly by what was meat and what wasn’t. Giving the meat to the dog, he picked at some fruit.

“Go ahead, eat. Slowly though, if you’re not used to eating. Recovering from malnutrition is not fun and if you eat too much too quick, you’ll just get sick. I know from experience that you don’t want to do that. Slowly.” The dog was looking at him with squinted eyes, nearly in his face. “Go on. It’s not poisoned.” With that, he stood up and walked around the shack. A mattress was in one corner but was covered in moss and mold. With a little swish of the wand and a cleaning spell, it was demolded, and then he cast a repairing spell on it. Not as good as if it hadn’t been ruined in the first place, but good enough.

He went around the shack, repairing holes in the roof so it could at least remain dry. When he finished, he pat the dog who had ate some of the food, and wisely listened to Altair.

“Don’t know what you are but know you’re magical and good thing too. Would’ve been a terrible waste of food if you’d just gorge on it and puked it back up. Here.” He performed a stasis charm that he’d picked up from watching Narcissa over the summer. “Can eat it at any time now. It lasts for a week.” He went back over to the bed and spread the blankets on and around it.

“Not quite sure how dogs like to sleep, but I assume this is good.” He went to the door and looked around. “No dementors so I should be fine.” He turned back to the dog who was standing in the middle of the room now, eyes downcast. “You, don’t get dead.” With that, Altair ventured back to the castle.


	14. Chapter 14

The next morning, the Malfoy owl dropped a letter in Altair’s hand with the Malfoy seal on it. Draco leaned over to read it but he shoved his shoulder and shook his head, taking it with him and going into the hall. Finding a deserted bench, he sat down and opened it, reading the letter.

_Altair,_

_I have arranged for you to be allowed to leave school grounds with your professor as requested, on the grounds that you have some paperwork to finish at Gringotts. I hope you find the answers you are looking for._

_However, I find myself inclined to remind you that we care for you and any choice you make. Narcissa wishes her luck as well. If you do discover what you seek and would rather be accommodated by whoever it points you to, we will be happy for you. But you will also have a place with us. Always._

_We truly view you as part of our family after these months. That will never change._

_Best regards,_

_Lucius._

It held yet another seal. Altair blinked the tears out of his eyes and nodded, taking a deep breath. He wouldn’t leave them. They were his family. Didn’t mean that he didn’t want to get to know Lupin. He was his biological father. And apparently, he had wanted him, and Altair had been stolen from him.

Altair went to Lupin’s office, and this time, knocked. When he got an invitation to come in, he opened the door. Dumbledore was there. Altair halted, holding the letter tighter in his hand. The headmaster narrowed his eyes on Altair but kept his tone pleasant.

“I see you’ve gotten your letter as well. Mr. Malfoy has requested you go today to finish some of your adoption papers. Mr. Lupin here is the only one available today.” Altair nodded, giving the coot a tight-lipped smile.

Dumbledore bid them goodbye and then Lupin and Altair were Flooing away. Altair was caught and he groaned, shaking his head.

“I hate that.”

“I admit it takes some getting used to,” lupin chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

“Shall we go?” Altair motioned and he blinked hard, nodding.

“Sorry. I’m just…”

“Overwhelmed? Surprised? Nervous?” Altair offered as they walked. Lupin nodded, a small sigh leaving him. “Don’t worry about it. You just found out your kid didn’t die as a toddler yet someone told you otherwise and spelled you, so you didn’t even recognize your own child with your friend.” They walked in silence to Gringotts. Lupin stuttered his way through explaining he needed to be purged of any mind spells.

“Those start at a hundred galleons,” The goblin drawled looking up and down Lupin and his ratty clothes. He blushed and ducked his head. Altair was short enough to see the crestfallen look that came over his face that he tried to hide, so he took a step forward.

“I am Altair Malfoy. Draw from my account for the cost. This gets done today.” The goblin considered him for a moment and then nodded, telling them to follow him. Lupin looked down at him with wide eyes.

“What did you just do?”

“Gave you a chance to figure out what memories in your head are real and which ones aren’t. And if you’re lucky, find out who stole your child from you and cursed you into forgetting in the first place.” He gave a shaky nod, but still looked absolutely shocked.

Altair was directed to a waiting room while Lupin was taken to the room to get purged. Altair was assuming it was going to be the same room he was in, but wouldn’t bet on it. He had no idea how this place worked.

Two hours later, a shaky Lupin entered the room, followed by a goblin. Altair stood, brows furrowed.

“Are you alright?” Lupin looked at him and immediately tears rolled down his face. He took a step forward and hesitated, arms rising and dropping. Altair sighed, and opened his arms. Immediately his arms were full of him. He held him tight, like how Lucius held him through some of his panic attacks, one hand cradling the back of the head, the other one soothingly on the shoulder.

It made him feel safe and not trapped, he hoped it worked for Lupin too.

“I’m so sorry. I failed you. I know you don’t remember, but I do. I do now, and I’m sorry!” Lupin bawled, clutching him close.

“Hey, I don’t know what happened, but I can guarantee you it wasn’t your fault. Let’s pay and get out of here, okay?” Lupin nodded and the two of them parted, composing themselves as they turned to the goblin who held out a parchment to Lupin.

“This list of spells that were on you.” He turned to Altair. “We have charged the Malfoy account and sent a record of the purchase to Lord Malfoy.” He nodded his head. The two of them got a bloodline test, just to be sure what they already knew. The goblins couldn’t tell Altair’s ancestry, but confirm whether or not he was someone specific’s child. It was true. The two of them were then led back to the main lobby. Altair caught him by the elbow and dragged him through the floo back to his office and cast a locking charm on the door.

“Put up a silencing spell.” Lupin did so and looked at him with wide teary eyes. Filled with so much regret.

“I don’t know who it was. I had put you down for a nap, Siri was in the kitchen, singing, when he stopped, and I heard a thud. I went to go check on him and was hit by a spell. When I woke up, you were gone.”

“And you thought I was dead…?”

“No, um, later, after we had searched, and searched. Utilized all of our resources, I remember a voice telling me you were… _dead”_ he spat out the word, clenching his hands into fists as his voice broke. “And that James and Lily had always had twins. It was under some kind of strong altering spell. I can’t remember what the voice sounded like, just the words. I was in the _same room.”_ Altair reached forward and slapped him when he started going into hysterics. Not hard, just enough. Lupin blinked hard and then turned to him with furrowed brows.

“It’s not your fault. So, stop that. You can’t change the past. Live in the moment. Come on, I need to know somethings.” Lupin perked up, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Right…was my name actually Jasmine?”

“ _Godric_ no. Flowers were Lily’s family’s things. We named you Navi, informal name of a star cluster.”

“Pretty… Does it bother you…that I’m,” he gestured vaguely to himself, “Not what you had?”

“Why would it bother me that you’re being yourself?” Unexpected, that stunned him. “That’s all I ever wanted for my kid. For you. To be true to yourself, and happy.”

“I’m working on that. Both parts. And the Malfoys are helping.” Lupin gave a nod.

“I saw in the papers in the summer. You look to be doing much better since then.”

“I feel accepted there. Like I have a family,” Altair said slowly, not sure how much he wanted to share with him yet. Genetics does not make a family. Lupin smiled, truly smiled, and it again shocked him.

“Why do you look so surprised that I’m alright with that?”

“I don’t have much experience with people taking into consideration with how I feel.” He frowned. “And I’d figured you’d be upset at the fact that I was taken.”

“Do not mistake _that._ I’m bloody well pissed and wish to find whoever did it. And do things that I should not tell a student. I am very upset. But I’m relieved you’re alive. And that you’re in a place that is making you happy. You’ve been away from me almost all of your life. I cannot expect that you’d want me in it. I am very thankful that you’re at least interested in it.”

They spent the day talking about _much_ lighter stuff. It became a weekly occurrence. Altair would come to his office on Sunday afternoon and they’d talk about trivial stuff.

When the Slytherin v. Gryffindor match finally came up, he was practically buzzing with excitement. His accidental magic was all over the place all morning. It had exploded Pansy’s tea right into her face, which was, honestly, hilarious. He woke up floating in his bed. And when he realized it, he freaked and fell, getting launched onto the floor with a loud smack, which of course woke Theo, their resident light sleeper.

Going to the pitch, Lucius was standing by the stands. Altair and Draco smiled, going over to him. He gave them words of encouragement, reminding them that he was there the whole time. When they went to go, Lucius asked Altair to stay a moment.

“Did you find out who they are?” His eyes flickered to the stands before focusing back on Lucius’ eyes.

“Yes.” Lucius gave a smile, but it was obviously forced. “And as long as you’re not kicking me out, I’m not going anywhere. You’re my family.” Lucius blinked hard and pulled him into a hug, kissing his forehead.

“I can honestly say I am relieved to hear you say that.” Altair laughed and shook his head, before reminding Lucius he had to go, and he had to get into the stands.

“Thanks, Dad!” he called as he ran onto the pitch, heart racing at the words but knowing they felt right. He didn’t turn around, so he didn’t see the utterly shocked, yet fond expression Lucius had.

The game was long and brutal, neither team exactly playing fair. At one point, a Gryffindor beater slammed into him and knocked him from his broom. Flint and Cassius caught him and threw him straight up. He caught his broom and remounted it midair, getting impressed cheers from all over the stands. It was something he insisted they practice, and the others had reluctantly agreed. Bet they were happy now.

He got hit with bludgers and had nearly flown right into the ground trying to escape one bludger aimed at him. But when Harry caught the snitch, it didn’t matter. Slytherin still won with a thirty-point lead.

The victory lap was full of the team cheering and when they landed, going into a group hug. They celebrated all night, and he spotted Gryffindor golden boy Professor Lupin cheering nearly as loud as the Slytherins in the stands. All night in the common room was a party, Snape leaning against one wall, confiscating alcohol, and breaking up attempted duels, but no one lost any points. Draco and Altair swore they even got him to smile at one point.

On the next one of the weekly visits with Lupin, he congratulated him, and he nodded excitedly. He said this was his first year playing and then they talked about quidditch the entire time.

Eventually, Altair started picking up on little things in Lupin’s magic.

How a loud noise would make Lupin barely flinch, but his magic would draw in on itself, poised to strike. Or how sometimes, other feelings would seep into the magic. Like pain, and self-loathing. Things he was well familiar with. So, he paid close attention during April.

Even when he insisted on learning the Patronus charm. Monday nights, he would be in there learning to cast. His happy memory was the moment the goblin proclaimed him a Malfoy. He was good at it, only once he stopped trying to say the incantation aloud. He did much better silently, which had thoroughly impressed Lupin.

One day, he had to ask what had been weighing on his mind.

“Do you think it was Black? Who stole me away and put the charm on you?” Lupin had choked on air and Altair grimaced, reaching over and patting his back. When he calmed down, he shook his head, reaching towards his hands. He gave them to him.

He never touched him without asking, whether it was verbal or like that, he always let Altair actually reach forward, and it did a lot to calm his nerves some days.

“No, Altair. There is no way that Sirius was the one to do it. He loved you with his entire heart. You were his world. When you were gone, there was a light in him that disappeared. He became reckless.”

“I had to ask, you know, with what he did to your other friends.” He grimaced. “What?”

“I’m not entirely sure that he did it?” This was a first. Before, he’d been sure.

“What changed your mind?”

“just…a feeling.” Altair raised his brows but nodded.

“You mind if I do my work in here?”

“Not at all.” Altair settled into the chair and took out his ancient runes book, trying to finish up the dreadfully long essay. He occasionally would look at Lupin as he was marking. His skin had a grayish tint to it, bags under his eyes. He seemed to wince just barely when he moved.

“Are you feeling alright, sir?”

“hmm?” He looked up and then gave Altair that look. The look that was comforting yet somehow chastising. “We agreed that you don’t need to call me sir when it’s us. And I’m a little under the weather, but I’ll be fine in a couple of days.” Just as he finished saying that, the door opened. Altair turned to see Snape walk in holding a steaming goblet. Snape’s brows quirked when he saw Altair but didn’t stop.

“Ah, Severus, please just set in on the desk.” He did, yet nowhere near Lupin. It was as close as it possibly could be to Altair. He was looking at Altair as he did it, and ran his eyes between him the goblet and Altair several times. Altair furrowed his brow.

“And what are you doing? Certainly not serving detention…”

“Homework. It’s quiet here.”

“It is _quiet_ in the library.”

“The mildew of the library gives me headaches.” The corners of Snape’s lip curled up.

“Do not let Madame Pince here ‘library’ and ‘mildew’ in the same sentence less you want to hear a lecture on how to tell the difference between sixteenth and seventeenth-century bindings.” He chuckled and nodded. With that, Snape left the room in a billow of black robes. Altair watched as Lupin finished marking the essay and then grabbed the smoking blue potion, taking a sip and making a face.

“Professor Snape is certainly a potion master, not many know this remedy.”

“I thought you said he’d rather obliviate your whole life than to help you?” Altair quirked a brow and Lupin smirked.

“Quite so. Dumbledore rather insisted he make this one, though.” With that, he tipped the goblet back, swallowing all of it. “Wish I could do something about the taste.”

“Chew on sourweed.” Lupin raised a brow but didn’t respond to that seeing as Altair went back to his work.

The next day, he was in the library before his Patronus lesson, his personal advanced potions book in his lap, and a more advanced library edition. He found one and froze. Read the description. Again. And again. And again.

With a stumble, Altair jumped from his seat and _ran._

His blood was surging in his ears even before it, and went he spun a corner, a group of Hufflepuffs parted quickly lest he run them over. He climbed the steps and then opened the door, not bothering to knock, wand in his hand. The door swung shut behind him. Both Lupin and Snape turned to him, their eyes going to his death grip on his wand.

He was panting, eyes stinging as he stared at Lupin.

“You’re a werewolf.”


	15. Chapter 15

Altair was hyperventilating, but he couldn’t stop as he stared at Lupin someone he was starting to _trust._ Lupin stood, hand outstretched and Altair raised his wand, squaring his jaw.

“ _Don’t.”_

Lupin raised his hands slowly while Snape quirked a brow. “Yes, congratulations, you found out about the mutt. What are you going to do now?” Altair narrowed his eyes on him.

“You’re letting him stay here? In a _school?_ ”

“That was my argument when Dumbledore told us.” He spluttered and ignored the hurt look on Lupin’s face. “Yes, the whole faculty knows.”

“…then _why is he here?_ In a place full of children? What the bloody hell is wrong with all of you?”

“The potion—”

“I do not believe Mr. Malfoy asked _you,”_ Snape snarled. Lupin, wisely, shut his mouth.

“The potion is limiting at _best._ That’s not fool-proof to it and you bloody well know it.”

“The one I brew is more potent, but your point still stands.” Snape nodded. Altair nearly jumped out of his skin when the door behind him opened.

“Mr. Potter!” he flinched, turning, wand glowing when a hand caught his wrist. He panted, trying to keep his gaze focused enough to glare at Dumbledore.

“I’m a _Malfoy._ Let go of me! You’ve constantly been endangering students. Let _go!”_ Dumbledore flew away from and Altair hit the ground, hands pressing against his chest as he gasped for air.

“I can’t breathe.”

“You’re having a panic attack. I am going to gather you into my arms now,” he was lifted into Snape’s arms, one hand on the base of his skull. He pushed out with his magic, flinching and cowering into Snape’s robes at the sound of glass shattering. He found the cold but cozy feel of Snape’s magic and pulled it over him like a cocoon, trying desperately to match his breaths to Snape’s.

He wasn’t sure how long it took, but when the ringing in his ears stopped, and he managed to keep breath in his lungs, he felt like he’d been hit by a semi-truck. He peeled away from Snape’s arms and immediately went back in them when he saw Lupin and Dumbledore.

“I told you two to _move,”_ Snape snarled. “It’s a perfectly reasonable reaction when a thirteen-year-old just found out a deadly creature has been teaching him all year! Now, get. Back.” Altair turned to glare at Dumbledore.

“I know you’re startled, but Remus is a good teacher. I thought you two were getting along.”

“But—”

“Let me finish, dear”

“Don’t call me _dear._ Bastard.” Dumbledore’s eyebrow twitched but he nodded once.

“Of course. I understand you’re startled. And Remus hasn’t once been a threat to anybody. He transforms and sleeps the night away.”

“Where?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Where do you transform?” Altair asked, rounding on Lupin who was looking more and more miserable as time went on.

“Locked in my quarters.” Altair’s eyes widened as he looked between the three teachers. He removed himself from Snape’s arm but did accept his help in standing up seeing as he nearly fell on his face.

“Do none of you see a problem in that?”

“As long as I take the potion, I am no danger to anyone.”

“What if you forget? What if Snape has an accident that prevents him from doing so?”

“Then he’d leave for the moon,” Dumbledore answered, eyes sparkling. Altair shook his head, stumbling out of the door, wand in his hand. “Ms. Potter.” He turned, wand swiping through the air.

“ _Mr. Malfoy,”_ He corrected with a hiss as he left, stumbling through the halls, eyelids drooping. Draco found him and insisted on taking him to the infirmary.

“I had a panic attack, Draco, I’m just exhausted. I wanna sleep.” So, Draco carried him to their room and put him in bed.

The next weeks went by in a sort of a blur, Altair contemplating what he should do with his new information. More often than not, Altair was either fixing up the Chamber or sneaking out to go to the shack and feed the dog. The dog was better company.

And the dog could obviously tell something was bothering him because he would constantly whine at him, looking up at him with gray eyes. So, he burst, telling a random magical dog that he found out someone he was starting trust—not an easy task—was a werewolf and he was inside the bloody school full of bite-sized children. The dog had gone stiff next to him, before whining lowly and shaking his head.

“It is too bad,” he argued and immediately groaned. “Great, I’m arguing with a dog.”

But he did give up and went to Lupin’s office, trying to get the courage to knock when he felt the familiar magic behind him and he yelped, turning to look at him with wide eyes. The hopeful smile on Lupin’s face fell immediately, and he took a step back.

“Can we talk?” Altair squeaked. Lupin nodded and they went into his office. They sat awkwardly in silence for a long time before Altair heaved a long sigh, picking at his nails.

“How long?”

“I was bitten when I was five.” Altair’s head snapped up; eyes wide. Lupin was looking at his desk, hands interlocked tightly together. He stood up slowly and approached the desk, putting a shaky hand on his wrist. Lupin looked up with wide eyes.

Altair’s breath was coming out in pants, but he gave Lupin a nod.

“Why haven’t you told anyone?”

“Snape hasn’t.” Lupin looked down. “And it’d likely be your death sentence, so, no thanks.” His head snapped back up.

“Look, I understand why it was a secret, but I cannot see past the danger this poses.”

“I would never hurt anyone—”

“Dammit, Remus!” They both froze, him never having called him by his name before. Altair shook his head, eyes burning. He swallowed hard. “I’ve been with monsters my entire life. And to find out you could so easily ruin everyone’s lives here, just by not taking a potion _once,_ that’s terrifying. This place is my safe place. Has been since the moment I stepped onto the boats in first year. I was startled. Is it truly safe?” He nodded.

“Then you won’t mind if I stay with you.” He immediately spluttered, shaking his head. “You said it’s safe.”

“Yeah, as in, no one comes into my quarters.” 

“If I can unlock your quarters then you let me in or you resign.” Lupin’s mouth dropped.

“Altair…”

“No. I’m a third-year. If I can get into your quarters, then it needs to be safe in case anyone does. You know how kids are. Someone could break into your rooms wanting to prank you or get answers to tests. Come on.” Lupin glared at him for a solid minute rubbing his hands over his face and standing with a wince.

“You are certainly our child.” With that, he turned and led him up the stairs, albeit slowly. The full moon was tonight so it made sense. Altair stayed where he was for a second, blinking rapidly as Lupin’s words settled in his brain. He shook it off and followed him. Lupin showed him the door. “The enchantments I use are already in place.”

Altair took a deep breath and walked over to the door. He felt the magic as soon as his foot knocked against the door, and it was certainly closed. But with two swishes of his wand, one spell taught to him by the Weasley twins, another from a book in the library, the door clicked, and he pushed it open, stomach jumping to his throat.

He turned around slowly, raising his timid eyes to Lupin’s horror-filled ones. Altair gulped and raised a brow. “You have a roommate tonight.”

Altair was in there when Snape brought the potion and he immediately saw the displeasure on his face. Lupin caught his wrist when he set the goblet down. Just as Snape was about to yell, Lupin yanked him and talked into his ear. Altair rolled his eyes and glared at them when they both snapped their heads to him.

“Come, Altair. The dog needs to be alone.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“You will walk out of here or I will immobilize you and _carry_ you out.”

“What are you going to do? Tell my _father?_ Does Lucius know that there is a werewolf teaching his children?” Lupin went pale. “Wonder how many people would get fired if _that_ secret got out.”

“And how many would he go after if you get maimed tonight?” Snape yelled.

“Then he shouldn’t be here!” Altair and Snape glared at each other.

“The mutt almost killed me in my years in school, I’m not eager to see it happen to someone else.” Altair reared back and snapped his eyes to Lupin who was looking at his shoes.

“I didn’t know…” Lupin started.

“I don’t care,” Snape snapped. “What I do care about is a thirteen-year-old boy thinking he can room with a werewolf to prove a point.”

“If he comes after me, I can handle it.”

“Prove it,” In a swift movement, Snape’s wand was in his hand. Lupin paled, and lurched toward him, but Snape easily pointed the wand at him.

Altair took his own wand out and straightened up. With a flick of his wand, Severus sent the two sitting chairs hurdling towards him at breakneck speed which he easily stopped and pushed to the side. Next, Snape hurled a full force magic wall at him, and he deflected it, grunting, and shoved the force to the floor.

“And then I’d come in here, call you, and then you’d come and properly pin him down,” Altair huffed. Snape was grimacing looking between him and Lupin. “If you even think about tying me up, you’ll just give me a panic attack. The only way for me to leave this room and not have one is on my own free will.”

“You foolish boy.”

“I don’t want kids to be in danger in a safe place! What don’t you two understand about that?” Altair’s eyes filled with tears. “ _I_ don’t want to feel like this is not a safe place. It’s already bad enough with Black being able to break into the castle. But if the teacher I was starting to _trust_ is a _danger._ I can’t. You’re supposed to be the ones protecting us! And the ones we look up to! I can’t have more figures that I’m supposed to be safe with be dangerous!” Altair lowered his wand, muffling his cries with his fist. Both adults were looking at him in a different light. Snape walked slowly over and offered his hand. Altair touched his fingertips to it and nodded, and then Snape had him in an embrace, soothing him. This time, his magic wrapped around him without him coaxing it to.

“You won’t be in any danger. Lupin, drink the bloody potion already. I’ll stay with you both.” Altair sniffled as he looked up at him.

Lupin had downed the cup and looked at both of them. “Quarters?” Snape nodded and then the three of them went up. Lupin unlocked the door, allowed the two of them to enter, and then stepped in, locking it behind him. It was a living room, and he lit the fire with a wave of his wand. There were blankets _everywhere._

Lupin looked at the two of them with wide eyes, glancing back and forth between the two of them, fingers twitching with the hem of his shirt.

“Altair…it’s not a pretty sight. It’s quite gruesome, honestly. Are you _sure—”_

_“_ I can guarantee you whatever I see will be nothing to the horrors I’ve experienced for myself.” Lupin flinched, mouth falling open.

“And you have no right to inquire about whatever horrors he’s seen and experienced, Lupin,” Snape drawled and pulled Altair to a table in the far corner.

“Right, well. Severus, if something, for any reason—”

“I’d sooner kill you myself than allow your ravenous self near us.” Altair flinched but didn’t say anything, his wand tightly held in his hand.

Lupin sat on the couch, facing away from them, and Snape was staring at him, letting Altair know exactly how displeased he was with this.

“This is why you hate him? Because he’s a werewolf.”

“He nearly _ate_ me.”

“I did not.” Both Snape and Altair tensed. The voice came from Remus but was much rougher and deeper than usual. He didn’t say anything else and the duo exchanged looks.

“Can I have the story?” Snape looked at him for a long moment before sighing.

“Sirius Black lured me to the shrieking shack one full moon, yes that is where he used to transform, and if James Potter hadn’t yanked me out, I’d be dead. They said it was a prank,” he let the word drawl out, “to teach me not to stick my nose where it didn’t belong. Lupin’s always claimed to not have known about it. I don’t care. He nearly killed me. I should have known then that Black would become a murderer.” Altair went silent.

They sat in silence before a loud pop resonated through the air, followed by Lupin’s cry of agony. Altair jumped to his feet and Snape was quick to intercept him.

“Sit down. You wanted to be here. _Sit.”_ Altair gazed at him with wide eyes before nodding, sitting himself back in his chair and drawing his knees to his chest. He kept his gaze on the couch, though Lupin had fallen off of it. He sat there, listening to the snap of bones, Lupin’s cries and panting, and then, after what felt like forever, the cries turned into whines, into barks, and then into a howl which had his hair standing on end.

Altair held his breath as he watched a giant werewolf take place, turning its amber eyes on the two of them. Snape jolted, hand on his wand, and Altair pushed it down.

“Don’t,” he whispered. Snape glared at him but then quickly turned to keep his gaze on the wolf. The wolf walked around the couch, looked at them, and then bowed its head, laying down.

“Satisfied?” Snape gritted, looking as stiff as a statue.

Before he could stop him, Altair leapt from his seat and walked to stand about six feet from the wolf, wand held tightly in his hand. The wolf looked at him and then back at the floor. The same comforting magic was coming off of him, only tinged with more pain and loneliness now.

“Hi…Remus.” The wolf looked up, eyes glassy. “We’re going to leave now.” The wolf nodded. Altair walked back until Snape caught his hand and apparated them away.

They landed in Snape’s office.

“If you ever do something so foolish again…”

Snape was panting, and Altair frowned, leaning over to press fingertips to Snape’s. Snape’s eyes snapped to his.

“Just retrieve me a calming draught from the shelves, if you will.” Altair nodded with a frown, quickly going over to the shelves and grabbing one, giving it to his Head of House. The professor downed it, and shakingly, dropped to the floor. Altair stayed a few steps back but lowered slowly to his knees as well.

Soon, Snape stopped shaking and tiredly opened his eyes, meeting Altair’s.

“I won’t tell Lucius if you don’t?” he offered, a high pitch chuckle leaving him. Snape huffed, shaking his head.

“If you had been anyone else, I would have spelled you and taken you away.”

“I know.”

“Go to bed, Malfoy.”

“Will do sir, do try to get some sleep.” When he was at the door he paused. “Sir, sleeping with the door opened helps me.” He added before leaving. Calming draughts could become addictive using them to calm panic attacks regularly and by the stock he kept, Altair was sure he did.

The next morning, he knocked on Lupin’s office door. It was opened by a very miserable looking Lupin. Altair handed him a chocolate bar, one of his favorites.

“Truce.” The smile that broke out on the Professor’s face was worth it.


	16. Chapter 16

They kept their biweekly meetings during May, up until the last week, cause then Altair was busy prepping for exams and helping Draco and Theo prep for theirs. Exams for four days in a row and then they were all in the common room after their last one.

Altair was tired but had promised Lupin he’d bring him some chocolate before the full moon, so he hauled himself up, getting complaints from Blaise and Theo who he was closest to in their exhausted cuddle group. He got detoured by a couple of his Hufflepuff acquaintances and then by Ravenclaws. He had to escape being seen by his seventh-year bullies who had done a relatively good job at staying away from him this year. By the time he got to the office, he knew he’d already be locked in his quarters, but he was going to leave the chocolate on the desk. When he walked in, he froze.

The goblet was on the desk. And it was full.

He approached the desk.

“Professor Lupin!” He called. On the desk, he saw the familiar Marauder’s map and quickly snatched it up seeing as it was already activated. He saw him with Snape, Harry, Granger, Weasley, _Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew._ He didn’t think, he grabbed the map and ran to the fastest route.

He was running down the hill, approaching them, seeing the group come out of the shack, one of them wrapped in magical bindings.

“Remus! The potion! It’s not safe!” He yelled at the top of his lungs as he approached, wand held tightly in his hands. All heads snapped to him and then to Lupin.

He started changing and before Altair got close enough, the one bound dove, caught a wand. Harry cast the disarming spell, but the man was now a rat.

“Catch him! We need him!” Harry yelled and Altair turned, changing course, and following after the magical signature of the rat. He could feel it, the bitterness of it.

Altair concentrated hard as he ran, and the wand began heating up in his hand. Then, he could see the rat, a glowing little light in the distance, the trail from the rat to him also glowing a dark green.

Panting and exhausted, he didn’t slow down. If Lupin and Snape had both tied this man up, there was a good reason. He ran and ran, no telling how long it was, occasionally sending a spell towards the rat to slow it down, seeing as he didn’t want to miss and make the terrain harder for _him_ to cross, but also didn’t want to explode the guy.

Finally, he saw it stuck on a branch and brandished a spell, and then cast a petrifying spell, and then instantly hit his knees gasping for breath as he glared at the whining man.

“If you even try to get away, I’ll hex you into the next millennium, understand?” The eyes blinked wildly so he took that as a yes. After he caught his breath, he stood, levitating the man and starting the long trek back to the castle. When he arrived, he shoved the man through the halls, and started towards the only place he figured he should go, which would be the infirmary since Pomfrey believed him more than Dumbledore, and this was going to take a lot of explaining. He turned the final corner and froze at the people in the hall.

“Lucius!” At once, Lucius, Snape, the minister, Dumbledore, Poppy, and several people he didn’t recognize turned to him. Poppy gasped, hand going to her heart. Altair dropped Pettigrew who immediately tried to get up and take off running but Altair kicked him in the gut, sending him back to the ground. He huffed looking back up, wiping sweaty hair out of his eyes. All the people were looking at him with wide eyes, faces pale.

“Uhh, this is Peter Pettigrew.”

Lucius ran towards him, binding the man with ropes from his wand looked over him. “Are you okay? You took on a Death Eater? What were you thinking?” Altair blinked against him as Lucius pulled him into a hug.

“Well, I believe this is proof enough for you minister? Pettigrew is alive. I’m sure if you give him Veritaserum then you’ll see that the other children were telling the truth,” Dumbledore said gruffly, eyes narrowed. Lucius pulled back from his hug and looked over him.

“Black…Black is innocent?” This was that missing piece. His biological parents were both on Hogwarts ground right now. “Where is he?” He asked, urgently, looking up at Lucius.

“He escaped.”

“Innocent men don’t run!” Snape snarled.

“I’m sure you would if you were being threatened by a Dementor’s kiss,” Lucius snapped right back, not looking away from Altair’s eyes which were now freely overrunning with tears.

“I’m here,” A voice croaked. Everyone turned, even Pettigrew as he thrashed in the magical ropes. Slowly walking down the hall was a lanky man, skin pulled taut over his skull. He was practically wearing rags, his long, tangled hair, same shade as Altair’s, hung to his elbows. His eyes were set in dark circles, but they sparkled with shine. His hands were raised.

“I have no wand. I am here, saying once again, that I am innocent. I willingly will put myself under Veritaserum. You have the real culprit there,” Sirius Black’s voice cracked and fizzled, but he nodded towards Pettigrew. Lucius nodded and looked back. Two of the unknown men approached Sirius, wands drawn.

The infirmary doors opened, and Harry and Granger paled, looking at Sirius and then mouths dropped when they saw Pettigrew.

“Looks like your proof just came,” Dumbledore drawled at them. Sirius’ hands were bound.

“Don’t hurt him,” Altair whispered to Lucius, eyes on Sirius.

“Is he…”

“Yeah. I just want to meet him. Can I?” Lucius looked at him for a moment.

“Let’s bring them into the infirmary. They’re not going anywhere and they’re both injured. Poppy, look over Altair as well?” Altair sighed, hugging him tightly. He walked with them into the infirmary.

After Poppy looked after him she put her hands on her hips. “And what did _you_ do?”

“Chased a rat in the dark for about fifteen miles,” he deadpanned. The room went silent. The Aurors, he figured out that’s what they were, looked at Pettigrew and cast more containment spells.

Poppy gave Altair a potion to help calm him down and give him energy which he was thankful for, not wanting to sleep. Poppy looked over the other two, and when she proclaimed nothing life-threatening, the Aurors asked her not to give them anything. They hauled them up and started walking. Lucius nodded, holding out his hand. Altair quickly jumped off the bed and took it, practically jogging to keep up with everyone.

Once outside the wards, they all gathered in a circle and Altair sucked in a breath, eyes going to Sirius’. His magic. He knew that magic. It was a little less broken feeling, but it was the same. It was the dog. Sirius was an Animagus. He looked at him with wide eyes before the entire group apparated away.

Lucius had managed to get the two of them into a room, and told him a quite “three minutes,” before stepping out. Altair looked at Sirius, the ratted man in front of him, hands bound by magical ropes.

“Do.” He shook his head and cleared his throat when his voice broke. “Do you know who I am? To you, I mean?” Sirius nodded, a tear falling from one eye.

“Oh, I spent so long thinking you were dead, that Remus hated me for something I didn’t do.”

“…Lupin didn’t have his memories until he went to Gringotts.”

“The dementors. They feed off happy memories. A few of the fake memories shattered. I have no doubt some of the spell is still there.” Altair nodded and, bottom lip quivering, steeled himself.

“You’re innocent. You’ll be free.” Sirius gave a wry look, eyes going to the ceiling as he blinked rapidly.

“I broke many laws since breaking out of Azkaban, including _breaking out of Azkaban._ No, I won’t be free.”

“But!”

“Altair,” Sirius said, taking a step forward. “it is Altair, right? I may have misheard it.”

“It’s Altair,” he nodded, own eyes misty.

“Altair, I knew what I was risking when I came back.”

“Then you shouldn’t have come back! I had the rat! You could be free! I—”

“I want to get to know you, see the person you are. Try to have some sort of relationship with you, my _son,_ ” his voice broke and he sighed, shaking his head. “But this is what is right.”

“Sirius,” the door opened and Lucius came back in, looking at the two of them awkwardly. A tear fell down Altair’s face, and Sirius wiped it gently with his bound hands. “This isn’t fair! I just found you! You were doing the right thing.”

“You are an amazing person. I know you will do great things.” He looked at Lucius and nodded, but Altair halted him, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. He barked a rough teary laugh that sounded suspiciously like a cough as well.

“You’re affectionate too.”

“And you still stink.” They parted and shared sad smiles. Lucius motioned for Sirius to walk out and Altair immediately latched onto Lucius. They followed behind.

When Sirius was ushered into the room, Lucius needed to go to, Altair looked at him with wet eyes.

“I’ll do what I can. Sit on the bench. Narcissa should be here soon to keep you company.” Altair nodded, and gave Lucius another hug before letting him disappear into the room. Altair sighed, sitting on the bench heavily, bracing his forearms on his knees, putting his head in his hands.

After a while, he looked up and gave a small smile to Narcissa. She smiled as she sat next to him, hand rubbing his back.

“He your brother?”

“Cousin.” Altair nodded slowly. “Why are you here?”

“I need to see him get free. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Altair…”

“I can’t _lose_ him. Not when I just found him.” Narcissa gasped quietly.

“I didn’t know that he…a child. I…”

“You don’t keep track of your cousins?” Altair asked, looking over at her.

“Sirius was disowned when he was in school.” Altair swallowed thickly, shaking his head.

“The name they gave me was _Navi._ ” With that, he broke down, crying into Narcissa’s shoulder as she rubbed comforting circles on his back. “I can’t—” he sobbed shaking his head. “I want to know him! Can’t lose him this soon.” He cried harder, having trouble catching his breath.

Hours later, he woke up when he was jostled.

“Sorry, go back to sleep,” Narcissa mumbled.

“no, what’s going on?”

“No word yet. Altair, you’re not going to like this, but you need to go back to school.”

“What? No!”

“Altair, this will likely take all day. Maybe even tomorrow. There’s nothing you can do here.”

“I can _be here_ for him. He’s been alone for twelve bloody years! He deserves someone on his side.” Altair glared at Narcissa. “Please don’t take me from him.”

“The headmaster will ask for you soon.”

“This is a family matter.”

“Not to anyone but you. No one knows that he had a child. And I have no right to claim him as family.”

“But…”

“There’s nothing you can do but go back to Hogwarts, rest, and _wait._ Come on, I’ll walk with you.” Altair very reluctantly allowed Narcissa to direct him out, but not before he pushed his magic out, searching for Sirius’. He found it in the room, in the middle, no one immediately next to him.

The next day at Hogwarts, he was going through the motions numbly. All anyone at the school knew was that Black had been caught. No one knew about everything that actually happened the previous night.

The dementors were gone, so students were allowed outside. Draco and group dragged him out with them, sitting on the bank of the lake, watching the tentacles lazily wipe back and forth of the surface.

The others tried to talk to him, but he wasn’t feeling up to it. He had other family, _parents,_ that cared about him, and now that he found them, one of them might be sent to the worst place on earth again just because he was trying to make things right.

He didn’t sleep that night, staring up at the ceiling. Every time he closed his eyes he saw eyes like his, only duller and more haunted giving him a small smile with tears. He didn’t _understand._

He never felt one way or the other about James and Lily when he thought they were his parents. Why was he so affected _now?_

The next two days went by the same way as the first, and Saturday night, Altair collapsed. When he woke up in the infirmary, Poppy was scowling down at him, lecturing about him about the importance of sleep and eating, which he also hadn’t been doing.

After swallowing down several of Snape’s nutritional potions, Poppy gave him a sleeping potion. He slept for the first time in days.

He was released in the morning and went straight to breakfast. Draco was immediately by his side as soon as he walked into the Great Hall. He blinked and gave him a small smile.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m _fine._ I was just exhausted. Come on, I’m hungry.” They sat at the table, and all of his friends immediately were looking at him. “I’m fine guys.” Altair shook his head and then slowly started eating.

When the owls came through, everyone was getting a copy of the Daily Prophet. He heard outcries. When his owl dropped down, he quickly paid and took it.

EMERGENCY ISSUE

SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT OF ALL CRIMES

PETER PETTIGREW SENTENCED TO DEMENTORS KISS

_In a shocking turn of events, the notorious Sirius Black is actually innocent of the murder of twelve muggles and Peter Pettigrew. Both wizards in question were apprehended three nights ago on Hogwarts grounds. Pettigrew was captured while Black turned himself in, proclaiming his innocence once again and voluntarily offered to take Veritaserum once more._

_Under the truth serum, it was indeed revealed that Black has never murdered anyone nor was he loyal to You-Know-Who. He broke out of Azkaban when realizing that Pettigrew had access to Hogwarts and thought that he could apprehend him before harm was brought upon students._

_Apparently, Pettigrew was an unregistered Animagus whose form took a rat. He’s been parading around as a simple pet for twelve years. He’s been in Hogwarts all this time, waiting for the right time to strike._

_Pettigrew, under the influence of Veritaserum, admitted he was a death eater and that he was the spy that turned over the Potters to You-Know-Who. This is quite the surprise to everyone._

_An innocent man spent_ twelve _years in Azkaban. How is the Ministry going to remedy this extreme injustice? Will they even try?_

_When Black was asked what he was going to do with his newfound freedom, he simply responded that he was going to make the most of it with the people he thought about every day for the past twelve years._

_I will continue to be the public’s faithful reporter with any developments._

_Rita Skeeter_

Altair covered his mouth, eyes watery as he snapped his eyes up to the staff table. Lupin was pale, slumped in his seat, eyes wide and biting his knuckles as his shoulders shook.

Altair met his eyes and gave him a smile and a thumbs up.

“Black huh? Oi! Malfoys, you’re Blacks.” Altair and Draco turned to see the seventh-year bullies standing near the end of the table, wands in hand, sadistic smiles on their faces. Altair and Draco both stood from the table, heads held high.

“How many people did your _father_ have to hex to get him free.”

“If Black is free it’s because he’s innocent,” Blaise snapped. The hall had hushed, looking over.

“I don’t think so.” With that, one of them raised his wand, and his arm was immediately caught. Draco and Altair exchanged smiles. The boy slowly turned to look at who was behind him and paled, shaking.

“Now, I _know_ you were not about to attack my children,” Lucius drawled, eyes narrowed. The boy quickly shook his head.

“No- No, sir!”

“See to it that you don’t. You are an _adult._ And be it so, I’d have no issues showing you your place.” When Lucius released his arm, the three boys near face planted in their hurry to get away. Lucius gave them a smile and a pat on the shoulder as he walked by them and up to the staff table.

They sat back down and watched as Lucius said something to Dumbledore who immediately tensed. When Lucius was leaving, he stopped by the table for a second.

“We’ll be having guests when you return home next week.” The two boys nodded and then he was gone. The rest of the week passed by quickly and with the whole school talking about the shocking turn of events.

Altair was trying to get to Lupin’s office, but Draco wouldn’t let him out of his sight, afraid he was going to pass out again.

The parting feast, everyone eagerly awaited who won the house cup when Snape stood up.

“Due to circumstances that we will not disclose but the parties involved know who they are, there are some adjustments to the points that we waited till now to do so.”

Dumbledore stood up and with a grimace nodded. “Two hundred points taken from Gryffindor, and then add another one hundred for sheer luck.” The whole Gryffindor booed, and Altair caught sight of the Golden Trio trying to sink into their seats. “And from Slytherin fifty points.” Altair flinched as the whole table started shouting, demanding to know why. Dumbledore waited until everyone quieted down, and after a pointed look from Snape he continued, voice slightly higher pitched. “And two hundred points rewarded to Slytherin, for if we were without, the emergency paper would have had a very different headline.” There was a beat of silence and then the whole table was cheering.

Altair’s face split into a huge grin and he looked excitedly at Draco.

“I do believe a change of decorations are in order.” With a flourish, the hall was decorated as Slytherin and Altair hugged Draco close.

“I wonder who it was,” Blaise mumbled after everyone started eating. Altair was happily ignoring the glares from the other tables, celebrating with his house.

“I bet it was Draco,” Pansy said, fluttering her eyelashes. Draco groaned, shoving his face into his hand. The rest of them laughed, and the feast was spent laughing and joking, just overall celebrating.


	17. Chapter 17

After the feast, Altair slipped out and went to Lupin’s office. When the door opened, the confused and guarded expression on Lupin’s face immediately relaxed to a pleasant one.

“Altair, what— _oi_!” Altair launched at him, wrapping his arms around his waist.

“He’s free!” Lupin laughed, wrapping his arms around him and stabilizing them so they wouldn’t fall. He closed the door with his foot and then leaned back to look at him.

“He’s also upstairs.” Altair leaned back with wide eyes. “Would you like to meet him? Properly, I mean.” Altair hesitated to nod but did so. He was suddenly overcome with nervousness. “Don’t tell Dumbledore, he doesn’t know he’s here.” Altair laughed and then nodded, following Lupin up to his quarters. At the table, Sirius was sitting, hair trimmed and much cleaner looking, dressed in proper clothes. He turned around and then froze, eyes on Altair. Everyone was silent for a moment, awkwardly looking at each other.

“Do you still smell?” Lupin choked but Black laughed, standing up.

“Not nearly as bad.”

Altair rushed at him and wrapped him in a hug. Their magic met head-on and they stumbled, but Black’s arms were tight around him.

“ _Merlin,_ out of everything I hoped for over the years, I never thought _this_ would be a reality.” Altair pulled away and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

“er, sorry for attacking you.”

“If that’s your idea of an attack, I think I can handle it.” They gave each other small smiles.

“Uh, I’m going to tell you the same thing I told Lupin. This doesn’t change much. The Malfoys are my family, but I would like to get to know you.” He nodded, teary eyes focused on him.

“Of course. I wouldn’t dare try to take you from someone you consider family. As long as they’re taking good care of you.” Altair nodded. Silence stretched on again.

“Congratulations on winning the cup, Altair.” He blinked turning as Lupin took up a step by him.

“right! Yes! We beat your Gryffindor arses!” Lupin quirked a brow.

“Language, I can still deduct points.”

“You snuck someone into the castle, if anything that takes away your ability to deduct points.” The three of them ended up sitting at the table, butterbeer on the table.

“I don’t understand how we produced a Slytherin,” Sirius joked. Altair laughed, raising his glass.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Your whole family is in Slytherin, Padfoot,” Lupin said, and Altair froze, bottle in midair.

“ _You’re_ the marauders?” the other two exchanged glances.

“uh, yeah.”

“When did you make the map? How did you even _possibly_ get that amount of charms?” They chuckled.

“Slow down. Breathe.” Altair looked between the two of them with wide eyes, giving them rapt attention.

“We were in…fourth? Year.”

“Fourth? Do you guys even realize how strong that thing is?” Altair ruffled through his robe and put the parchment on the table with charms he’d been able to find out for sure were in it.

“When did you have time to examine it?” Altair blushed, looking back at the map. Sirius laughed.

“Was someone up to no good?”

“Solemnly.” The three exchanged grins.

The next day, Altair was on the train back home and was actually excited about it. He and Draco were talking excitedly about the quidditch world cup coming up, Lucius already promised that they would be in attendance.

Arriving at the station, Altair gladly hugged Lucius and then Narcissa. Draco did the same, even as he grumbled and blushed about it.

Arriving at the Manor through floo, Altair immediately saw a tall man in bright red wizarding robes. The man raised a slit, black eyebrow in a perfect arch.

“I do not believe we’ve met,” he said, smirking down at him. Altair turned as the floo activated again. Draco came through, slipping to the floor just as he himself did. He scrambled to his feet and he saw the man dressed in red. He smiled and ran to him, throwing his arms around him.

“Avery!” The floo roared to life two more times quickly, Lucius and Narcissa stepping out. Altair turned his wide eyes to Lucius and back to the man, quickly, over and over. Lucius took a step toward him. He touched his fingertips and then Lucius had his arm around his shoulder, squeezing him gently.

“This is an old…friend of ours. Avery.” Avery was bowing to Narcissa, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. His hazel eyes sparkled as he smiled at her.

“Care to meet him?” He looked up to Lucius’ understanding eyes and took a deep breath, nodding. They walked slowly over to the other three, and when they got close enough, Avery turned to them, folding one arm across his chest and bowing.

“Lord and Mr. Malfoy.”

“Hello, Avery. This is my son, Altair. Altair, this is Avery.” Avery straightened up and nodded at him. He didn’t look like he was from Britain, and his accent didn’t necessarily sound familiar, either.

“Lovely to meet you.” Altair nodded, tugging on the bottom of his sleeves, which Narcissa noticed.

“Why don’t you two go get resettled? We have tea in an hour?” Altair gave her a little smile before practically running out of the room and up the stairs. He stumbled into his room, leaning against the closed door. He sank to the floor, putting his head between his knees as he hummed the familiar tune Lucius had taught him.

He was shaking, and he curled his hands into fists in his lap.

He was _fine._

He just met someone; he shouldn’t be… _panicking._

And that was how Lucius found him, thirty minutes later, pushed lightly by the door as he came in. He knelt in front of him and held out his hand. Altair touched his fingertips and Lucius gathered both of his hands in his.

“You have been through a lot this past week, and this was just one more stress on top of all of that. When stressors bottle up, even the smallest of things can trigger such episodes. Understand?” he nodded, squeezing his hands. “Very well. Would you like to come downstairs for tea?” he thought for a moment before nodding.

“I think so.”

“If you want to leave at any time, you may, of course.” He nodded and then the two of them made their way downstairs and out into the garden. Draco was talking avidly with Avery while Narcissa watched from the sidelines.

Altair took a seat, grabbing a cup and Narcissa poured him tea.

“How’d you like playing quidditch?” She asked and Altair smiled, launching into telling her about the games, how they won the Quidditch cup, how much he _loved it._ He glanced at Avery and Draco and heard that Draco was also talking about the games, so he worked to make it a group conversation. Avery smiled at him and he nodded back.

It was not strange for the Malfoys to have guests over, last summer and winter they had plenty, so this was just one more. The Zambinis, Parkinsons, Crabbe, Goyle, all the like.

The day passed quickly and after dinner, Altair and Draco both retired early, wanting to sleep off the rest of the remnants of school’s events.

Avery was gone the next morning and Altair and Draco talked about school the next day. He could see the gazes Lucius and Narcissa would share though, over the week, and knew they wanted to ask him about Sirius.

But Draco was always right by his side, and he didn’t know if he was ready to tell Draco about that. Though Sunday, the house was full. Blaise, his mother, and current step-father, Pansy, her parents, and older brother, Crabbe and his father, Goyle and his parents, and Theo were all there. Avery showed up right before brunch.

Everyone made their way to the garden, the kids laughing and talking, the adults removing any outerwear they wore, seeing as it was incredibly warm outside.

Altair beat Pansy to a seat between Draco and Theo, smiling sweetly at her. She hmphed and moved to sit between Crabbe and Goyle. Altair tried not to stare at Mrs. Zambini’s arm, as he had at the end of last summer, and only succeeded after struggling to not look at the faded- barely-there Dark Mark.

She did not hide it. If it was hot, then it was hot and it was on display.

The woman terrified Altair.

When everyone was making idle chatter, it was interrupted by Avery standing. “Severus!” Altair turned to see Snape with a man he’d never met but had seen plenty of photographs of. He turned to Draco.

“That’s Corban. An old friend of father’s and Severus’s as you can see.” He nodded, watching how Snape and Corban stayed close to each other. Snape giving Avery a glare that did nothing to deter the man from bothering them.

Altair turned back to his food, chuckling with Draco.

“He always like that?”

“Hm? Oh, Avery? Nah, he’s actually pretty calm today.” Altair nearly choked on his tea as he turned to Draco.

“You’re joking.”

“Nope.”

Brunch passed in chatter from everyone, some of the adults trying to talk to Altair, and quickly gathered he wasn’t comfortable talking to them quite yet and would leave him alone. Thankfully.

When a pristine gray owl swooped in, landing in front of Altair, it stole his bacon he was about to put in his mouth.

“ _Oi!”_ He huffed, taking the letter from the bird and giving him another piece of bacon before shooing him away. Draco was laughing at him, so he flicked him on the arm. Altair furrowed his brow at the letter then flipped it over to unseal it. He pulled out the letter.

_Dear ~~son~~ Altair, _

_I know it has yet to be a week and I’m sure you are trying to catch up with ~~the Malfoys~~ your family. I just wanted to let you know I’ll be here for you, should you ever need it. Godric, I never thought I’d be writing to you…All these years, thinking you were gone. And now you’re not. _

_I understand that you have great talent at school. Remus has informed me of how good you did in his class, despite seemingly hating him at first. If you would like, well, I’d really like to get to know you. I cannot begin to understand to how you feel about all of this, and despite him talking to you, neither does Remus. _

_We went to Gringotts, officially got rid of those ~~damned~~ memory spells. I don’t know how much it means to you, but I need to tell you that I am sorry. I am sorry that I wasn’t there for you. That I didn’t get to watch you grow up. To teach all about life and about magic. I don’t know what life you have led so far, but I know that you got removed from the muggle home you were in and I am certain it was not pleasant. _

_I hope you’ll write back. I am currently at 12 Grimmauld Place, Narcissa knows it if you ever want to visit. Not that you have to! Just, if you feel comfortable and want to and…ugh this is awkward. This is the fifth letter I’ve written, and I still don’t know what I’m doing. I’m out of my element here. I’d really like to get to know you. But if you don’t then. then I will respect your choice._

_I can’t say I’d like it, but I’d respect it._

_With best regards? How else do you end a letter to your long-lost child?_

_Sirius Black_

Altair smiled a little bit, before tucking it back in the envelope.

“Who’s it from?”

“…A friend?”

“ _We_ are your friends. Come now, who’s it from?” He looked across the table to Lucius.

“Draco, Theo, quit terrorizing Altair about his mail.” He gave a silent thank you and he merely nodded, going back to his food. After eating, they all raced to play quidditch, barely listening to the calls telling them to take it easy at first.

Altair was chaser on Draco’s team again and they bumped shoulders before taking off into the air in the at-home quidditch pitch.

Altair laughed, embracing the air, and swooped under Pansy to score, causing her to let out an indignant screech. Altair laughed, shaking his head as he soared through the air, much more comfortable on a broom than he had been when they first played last summer.

They played until dark, and then they were all herded to the ground with the promise of food.

That got them all to kick it into gear and land and rush to the dining room, the table elongated. Altair sat between Draco and Blaise and Pansy was on Draco’s other side, much to the delight of the rest of them.

Draco sighed, laying his face in his hands.

“Aw, do you have a headache? Ma! Dracey has a headache!” Altair was having trouble not busting out laughing, and covered his mouth with his fist, Blaise doing the same.

‘Dracey?’ Theo mouthed at them, and they almost lost it.

“Alright, alright, settle down and enjoy dinner.” The boys exchanged glances and immediately were laughing, leaving Draco fuming and Pansy looking between them with a frown.

“What’s funny about his headache?” Can people die of laughter? It felt like it.

That night he went to the library and Lucius was there. He looked up as he walked in.

“Will you help me write a letter to Sirius?” He nodded and summoned a chair next to him which Altair sat in. He placed the letter he got on the desk, along with a pen and parchment. He offered the letter to Lucius. “he wrote me this. I think we’d get along.”

“I can tell you that without reading it. I am rather alarmed neither Narcissa nor I even thought that you were his child. You look much like him. You are positive you want me to read this?” When he nodded, Lucius began reading.

“Remus? Your professor?”

“My other parent.” Lucius’ eyebrow quirked as he turned to him.

“…how’d you find out again? What’s this about a memory charm?” Altair paled, thinking of the magic he did to find out, and how he was _not_ supposed to have access to that kind of magic. “You can tell me, Altair.” He grimaced and shook his head, hands tightly clasped in his lap.

“…I shouldn’t have done it.” He flinched, eyes closing.

“Altair, you know I will not hit you. I will not be angry with you either. I want you to tell me, and if you should not have done it, I will explain why and hope that you will understand and not try something like that again.” Altair slowly relaxed and nodded.

“I’ll go get something real quick, then.” He left the room trying to calm himself down. Repeating in his head: _Lucius won’t hit you. Lucius won’t hit you. Lucius will_ not _hit you. He promised he won’t be mad, too. Calm yourself. He’s not Vernon._

He shuffled through his trunk and books, before gathering the parchment and made it back to the library. There were two glasses on the desk, one on his side had a very small amount of whiskey compared to the glass Lucius had.

“I had a feeling we might need this.” He tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace. He retook his seat, sitting straight up.

“This is what I did.” He hesitated before handing it over. He immediately took his glass, taking a sip and hissing at it hitting the back of his throat. When he saw Lucius’ brows shoot up, he knocked the rest of it back.

He anxiously watched as Lucius spread the pages out, looking over the research and then the results. He finally sat back and turned to Altair.

“This was very dangerous.” He nodded once. “This was very advanced thinking and spellwork. Did you ask Severus for help with the potion?”

“No, sir.”

“I am very impressed. However,” Altair cringed. “Blood magic is dangerous and can be highly corruptive. Were there any negative side-effects? Headaches? Visions? Vivid nightmares that felt real?”

“No, sir.”

“What about immediately after?”

“Honestly, I was just angry, thinking that Professor Lupin was my father and that he gave me up, I immediately stormed up to his office and confronted him.” Lucius chuckled, causing Altair to relax slightly.

“I can only imagine how that went. Have you done any other magic like this?” Altair shook his head. “I must ask you to not ever do anything like this again. When you are of age and can do magic outside of school, if there is ever anything you want to try, please, run it by me first.” Altair nodded shakily. “Now, what’s this about a memory charm?” So, Altair told him everything he knew about how he had come to be blood adopted by the Potters. And, admittedly, it wasn’t much.

“I’ll look into it the best I can. Now, I believe we have a letter to draft.”


	18. Chapter 18

It had taken them a while and Altair had thrown out several letters before he wrote one that he liked.

_Sirius_

_I’m not really sure what to think about this whole thing, if I’m being honest. Up until my recent birthday, I didn’t even know I wasn’t a Potter. And I never once felt one way or another about Lily and James. That’s not to be rude, it’s just how I have felt. But when I was in the hall while you went before the Wizengamot, I was terrified that I was going to lose you just having found you, and I didn’t know what to feel about that or why. Still don’t. _

_Please, don’t apologize. From what I can tell, you couldn’t have don’t anything, and then you were in Azkaban. They don’t exactly let you out just to go check on family now, do they? Besides, I have a good family now, the Malfoys are taking really good care of me. I don’t know what you know about my life before them but it was hell and I wouldn’t trade the Malfoys for anything._

_I do want to know you and Remus, though. Do not mistake that. I do. I am a shy person by nature though, so that may be difficult. I’m even having Lucius help me write this letter. But yes, I think a visit would be nice one day. Lucius says there’s a portrait of my grandmother in the hall and she’ll probably yell at me the moment I come through the door._

_So, can I floo?_

_And now I’m going to bombard you with questions._

_How are you settling back into life? Do you have your wand back? Is ~~professor Lupin~~ Remus staying with you? When would be a good day for me to come over? Did you play Quidditch? Maybe I should have saved that question for in person. I’m sure I’ll think of several over time too. _

_I am glad you are released. I’d hate you to be in Azkaban when you’re innocent._

_I don’t know a good ending either,_

_Altair_

With that, he rolled it and then stood by Lucius’ side as he demonstrated how to seal it with the Malfoy family seal. He did so and smiled at it as it dried. The next day they sent it out.

Draco drug him out to their pitch and they did drills all afternoon until Narcissa sent Dobby to make them come in to eat. While doing that, the same pristine owl from the day before stopped by to drop a letter and steal from Draco’s food this time.

Altair took it, finished his plate, and then opened it.

_Altair,_

_Any day that you want to visit will be great. And yes, Mother is on the wall but is behind a curtain so it should be fine if you were to come by other means and come to the door. If you’d like, we can certainly set up a floo link though._

_I am sure that we can all talk about how we feel about this whole situation, it’s not like it’s an everyday occurrence. For the time being, yes, Remus is staying with me. Helping me readjust to being a free man. I do not have my wand back and I never was officially on the team. Moony and I can regale you with many of our school time shenanigans if you want._

_Of course, our invitation to you includes your family if they wish to come as well. That definitely would make Walburga (my mother) to think twice about yelling while you all are here. Again, any time you wish to come, just give us a floo call to let us know._

_Adios?_

_Sirius_

Altair chuckled and then looked to Lucius and Narcissa. He handed the letter over and let them read it in silence. When they looked back up, he spoke. “Can I go Friday?”

“Of course. Would you like us to accompany you?” He thought for a moment and then shook his head.

“If that’s alright, I’d prefer to go alone.”

“Of course, it is alright. I am sure there will be a lot you three need to talk about.”

“What?” Draco asked and Altair blinked, turning to him. He looked about as confused as he would be if Snape walked in wearing the most obnoxious outfit known to man.

“um…I know who my birth parents are.”

“Oh!” his eyes widened before they fell. “oh.” He looked at him and then their parents. “Are you leaving?”

“Can’t get rid of me that easily,” Altair chastised, kicking Draco’s foot and tried not to laugh at the immediate relief that washed over his face. 

“You sure about that?” Draco countered, jumping up and heading back in the direction of the pitch. Altair sighed, standing up and then sprinting after him after giving a quick goodbye to the other two.

After a rough crash landing, Altair had to escort Draco back to the manor where Narcissa took over and muttered healing spells after giving him a potion and they were sent to bed.

The week passed quickly and before he knew it, it was Friday and Altair was set to go right after breakfast and his nerves were _skyrocketing._ Lucius sat him down and they hummed the song together and then Altair nodded, wand in his holster as he made his way to the floo. Giving everyone a goodbye, he grabbed the powder and threw it, calling out the name of his biological father’s house.

He stumbled but successfully stopped himself from falling. He looked up, examining his surroundings. The house was rather gloomy and didn’t have much light. He turned when he heard rapid footsteps. Lupin’s face came around the corner and he lit up when he saw Altair.

“Altair! Come in, come in. Is the rest of your family here?” For the record, he didn’t look too upset to call the Malfoys his son’s family.

“No, sir. Just me.”

“Please, Altair. Just Remus.”

“Okay…” He turned his head, craning to look around.

“It’s a wreck, it’s alright. You can say it.”

“This place looks like it’s straight out of a Halloween magazine.” Remus laughed, nodding his head. “Where’s Sirius?” he heard a pop somewhere nearby which was followed immediately by a loud clang and footsteps. Sirius rounded the corner, wearing what was obviously one of Remus’ sweaters and he looked significantly less gray than the last time they’d seen each other.

“Sorry! Kreacher just told me you arrived.” Altair brushed it off.

“So…” Remus and Sirius both blinked and then motioned to follow them. He walked with them through a narrow, barely lit hall into a sitting room. Trying to _not_ look at the mounted elf heads. He perched himself on the side of a couch.

“Hi,” he murmured.

“Right, well I guess this would be important to know. I have resigned at Hogwarts.” Altair snapped his head to Remus, eyes wide.

“What? Why?”

“I’ve been apart from Sirius so long…thought he was a murderer; I want some time to see where that leaves us after all these years. I’ve made it abundantly clear to the staff that it’s not a forever ordeal, just until I figure out what I wish to do.” Altair blinked.

“You’re the only good defense teacher we’ve had.”

“I was under the impression that you hated me at first.”

“Well, your Gryffindor class humiliated my Head of House. Wasn’t exactly a great first impression. I ended up liking you. And it doesn’t negate the fact that you are our good teacher. First year, the dude had Voldemort’s wraith attached to the back of his head, second year was a fraud who taught about himself and then obliviated himself so badly he needs forever care at St. Mungo’s.”

“And I’m sure the fact for third year will be that you were taught by a werewolf.” Altair did not respond to that, instead watching how Sirius kept looking between the two of them, and then to the doors, and then back again.

“You grew up here?” he asked instead. Sirius jumped a little bit and then nodded, a grimace on his face.

“Up until I was sixteen. Then I moved in with Prongs. James.” He blinked hard. He…did not expect that. “I am sure Narcissa told you I was disowned?” he nodded. “I rejected all the pureblood bullshit.”

“Sirius!”

“The lad is certainly old enough to hear curse words. The house motto: _tojours pur._ Always pure. I hated it all, lashed out at everything. They treated me like shit, too, so I decided I had enough and left. The Potters were more than happy to take me in and James and I—We were practically brothers.” He swallowed hard. Altair furrowed his brows.

“I’m sorry.”

“ah, don’t be. Long time ago now.”

“Okay, old man.”

“Hey, watch it!” But Sirius’ eyes had a spark in them again, so he figured he did well. Remus was laughing and Sirius sent him a fake look of horror. “Moony! You betray me.” Altair giggled to himself, watching as the two launched into throwing jabs at each other.

“I made sandwiches, if you’re hungry, Altair,” Remus said, giving him a small smile. Altair gave a sheepish smile.

“No, I’m sorry. I ate breakfast right before coming.”

“Nothing to be sorry for.” Another long moment of silence before Sirius clapped his hands.

“Well, this is bloody awkward. Let’s see…have you been to any other wizarding alleys?” He asked and Altair nodded, eyes lighting up.

“Yeah! I went to France. It was so pretty!” Altair spent the better part of an hour talking with Sirius avidly about _Place Cachée_ and about what had changed since Sirius had last been there. You know, fourteen years prior.

“Do you have any leads on who separated us?” He finally asked. Remus was about to take a drink of his tea and with a sigh, put it back on the saucer.

“No, not yet. The best we have is someone exceptionally powerful altered our memories enough and our perception to do so.”

“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” Altair started, scooting forward to glare at the ground. “Why take me away from you, tell you I was dead, only to put me with the Potters? What does anyone gain from that?”

“I have no idea. But Altair,” he looked up at Sirius who stared back at him intently, “We are going to find out what happened and why. Whoever it was could have killed you by binding your magic like they did. _That_ is unforgivable.” A glass shattered and Altair flinched. Remus picked up his wand and quickly fixed it.

Only then, did the two men exchange wide-eyed gazes.

“What?”

“FILTHY BLOOD TRAITOR AND BEAST IN MY ANCIENT AND MOST NOBLE HOUSE! SHAME ON THE NAME!...”

Altair winced, looking at the two of them who looked like this was a normal occurrence.

“What the bloody hell is that?”

“My _mother’s_ portrait.”

“Where?” Sirius raised a brow. “Take me to her?”

“She never shuts up, I got to go close the curtains so, you can follow me if you want.” He nodded and then followed both Sirius and Remus towards the shrieking. In the entryway, on a far wall, was a portrait that was indeed screeching loudly and looking very perturbed.

“HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE IN HERE YOU BLOODY DISGRACE TO MY FAMILY. YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE! AND THIS BEAST—”

“Lady Black,” Altair slid in front of the two men who looked ready to catch the portrait on fire. Altair fell into a regal pureblood bow and ducked his head. “I am Altair Malfoy, my Lady. It is a pleasure to have been invited to your Ancient and Most Noble Estate.” There was a moment of silence, and Altair could practically feel the shock of the men behind him at the silence.

“Oh, Sir Malfoy. It is lovely to meet your acquaintance.”

“The pleasure is all mine, I assure you, my Lady.” Altair raised, sweeping his arms behind his back and inclining his head in the way Draco does all the time that used to annoy the crap out of him. The portrait was gazing at him curiously.

“How is my niece?”

“She fairs well, my Lady. I have been invited here on behalf of my family to discuss the situation regarding a member of the Black House being falsely imprisoned and the… ramifications it could cause the Wizengamot.” The woman paused a moment, looking at him, before she smirked.

“Why, of course. That’s brilliant”

“It would be more brilliant if we could discuss our business without having to shout at each other despite being seated in the same room. Surely, you can understand how that dampens the mood.”

“Why of course.” With that, the curtains snapped shut and Altair dropped his arms and turned on his heel to look at the very shocked wizards. He raised his hand to snap Sirius’ jaw closed.

“You’ll catch flies like that.”


End file.
